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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. club — for golf
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. key — for a lock
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cap — a lid
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. club — a group
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cap — a hat
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cap — of ice
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. mine — for digging
  22. key — in music
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. row — a line

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