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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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 — for a lock
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cap — a lid
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bulb — for light
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. cap — of ice
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — a line
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. row — to paddle
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bulb — for light
  23. chest — of your body
  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