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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: swing · ground · bore · key · branch · cap · hand · game

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. swing — music
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — to tire
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. hand — help
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a lid
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. key — for a lock
  22. swing — to play on
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. branch — a division

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