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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 120 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. key — for a lock
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. key — in music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. tube — a container
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. club — a group
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. swing — music
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cap — a lid
  20. club — for golf
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cap — of ice
  23. swing — in golf
  24. key — the most important part

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