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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. court — for sport
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. staff — a stick
  6. key — in music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. staff — employees
  9. court — of law
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. object — an aim
  14. wind — moving air
  15. staff — employees
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. object — a thing
  19. court — of a king
  20. object — to protest
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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