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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. key — the most important part
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. key — for a lock
  6. net — after costs
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. net — in sport
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. snap — to click
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. bat — the animal
  22. net — for catching
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com