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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chair — a leader
  4. present — a gift
  5. fine — high quality
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. key — for a lock
  8. cell — a phone
  9. drill — the tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. present — the time now
  12. game — a match
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. drill — army training
  15. present — there
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. fine — all right
  18. cell — in biology
  19. drill — a practice
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. row — a line
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. row — to paddle
  24. key — in music

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