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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cap — a lid
  6. key — for a lock
  7. field — farmland
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rule — a law
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. key — in music
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. stock — goods
  16. rule — government
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cap — a hat
  19. face — to confront
  20. stock — shares
  21. field — a subject
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cap — of ice
  24. field — for sport

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