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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: key · bay · spring · field · root · clip · pit · club

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — for a lock
  3. spring — a coil
  4. club — a group
  5. clip — a video
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. root — of a word
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. club — for golf
  10. pit — a hole
  11. field — for sport
  12. clip — to cut
  13. field — farmland
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spring — of water
  16. root — the cause
  17. key — in music
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. root — of a plant
  20. pit — in a race
  21. club — for dancing
  22. spring — the season
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. field — a subject

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