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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. saw — the tool
  5. degree — an amount
  6. key — in music
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. saw — the tool
  10. last — final
  11. last — to go on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cold — an illness
  14. key — the most important part
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wind — moving air
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. last — finally
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — temperature
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — not warm

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