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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 124 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — a subject
  5. ground — crushed
  6. lean — to bend
  7. key — in music
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. lean — thin
  10. ground — the earth
  11. present — a gift
  12. degree — from a university
  13. present — there
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. field — farmland
  19. key — the most important part
  20. degree — temperature
  21. present — the time now
  22. field — for sport
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ground — a position

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