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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — for a lock
  3. mug — to rob
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mug — a face
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — farmland
  11. mate — a friend
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. game — wild animals
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. game — a match
  16. key — in music
  17. shower — rain
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mate — to breed
  21. field — a subject
  22. mate — a partner
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mug — a cup

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