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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. key — the most important part
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. key — in music
  12. present — the time now
  13. game — wild animals
  14. key — for a lock
  15. present — there
  16. game — a match
  17. roll — a list
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. present — a gift
  22. cap — a hat
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pitch — completely

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