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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 116 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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. last — final
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. band — a music group
  6. land — to come down
  7. key — for a lock
  8. last — finally
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. band — a ring
  12. key — in music
  13. spring — a coil
  14. last — to go on
  15. sharp — clever
  16. spring — of water
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. spring — the season
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. straw — dry grass

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