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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. key — the most important part
  3. fall — to drop
  4. row — a line
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. key — in music
  7. field — farmland
  8. hand — help
  9. tear — to rip
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. key — for a lock
  12. hand — in cards
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. fall — to drop
  16. field — a subject
  17. fall — the season
  18. foot — a measure
  19. swing — music
  20. tear — from crying
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. swing — to play on
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. tear — from crying

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