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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fine · cell · spring · chair · squash · key · ground · drill

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fine — all right
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. drill — a practice
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. drill — army training
  13. fine — high quality
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. squash — the sport
  19. spring — of water
  20. key — in music
  21. cell — in biology
  22. key — for a lock
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. ground — the earth

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