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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: bat · key · fall · field · court · ruler · press · spring

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. field — farmland
  3. key — in music
  4. field — a subject
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. court — of a king
  11. press — to push
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spring — of water
  14. field — for sport
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — the season
  18. key — for a lock
  19. press — newspapers
  20. fall — the season
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. court — for sport
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. press — a publisher

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