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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. pop — music
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. pop — soda
  8. branch — a division
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. key — in music
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. key — for a lock
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. hand — help
  24. lash — an eyelash

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