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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: date · key · ball · wound · tube · arm · pitcher · land

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. tube — the underground
  4. land — ground
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. wound — an injury
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. ball — a dance
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. land — to come down
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. key — for a lock
  18. land — a country
  19. date — the fruit
  20. ball — a great time
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. key — in music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. arm — a part of something

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