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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bulb — for light
  5. lean — thin
  6. tear — to rip
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cap — a lid
  9. last — final
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cap — a hat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cap — of ice
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. key — in music
  24. key — the most important part

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