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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. key — for a lock
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — high quality
  7. game — wild animals
  8. race — a contest
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. key — the most important part
  12. key — in music
  13. fine — all right
  14. last — to go on
  15. race — humankind
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. game — a match
  18. last — final
  19. scale — in music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. last — finally
  23. scale — size or range
  24. foot — part of the body

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