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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. last — finally
  3. bound — certain
  4. last — to go on
  5. ground — a position
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. key — the most important part
  9. ground — crushed
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bound — tied together
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. ground — the earth
  19. key — in music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. bound — obliged
  23. last — final
  24. straw — a straw man

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