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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. kid — to tease
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. scale — in music
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. key — for a lock
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fork — in a road
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. kid — child
  17. field — farmland
  18. stock — shares
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. scale — size or range
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. stock — goods
  24. key — in music

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