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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: fork · club · season · drill · leaves · race · key · bat

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. race — the arms race
  3. key — in music
  4. season — in sport
  5. drill — army training
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. club — a group
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. race — humankind
  10. club — for golf
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. fork — in a road
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. key — for a lock
  19. club — for dancing
  20. drill — the tool
  21. race — a contest
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  24. bat — for baseball

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