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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. fine — all right
  3. field — for sport
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. key — in music
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. cold — not warm
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. kid — to tease
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. kid — child
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. fine — high quality
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. key — for a lock

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