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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · net · key · cell · nail · file · chair · straw

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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 — in music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. key — for a lock
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cell — in biology
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. net — after costs
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wound — an injury
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cell — a phone
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — in sport
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a tool
  21. chair — a leader
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — for catching

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