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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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Word bank
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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: game · branch · court · straw · field · hide · key · bass

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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. court — for sport
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bass — low music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. court — of a king
  12. field — a subject
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. court — of law
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bass — the fish
  20. branch — a division
  21. field — farmland
  22. key — for a lock
  23. field — for sport
  24. hide — animal skin

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