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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 · club · chair · sharp · pass · field · bank · wound

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. bank — of a river
  3. chair — a leader
  4. pass — a permit
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. key — in music
  8. club — a group
  9. key — for a lock
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. wound — an injury
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. sharp — clever
  15. field — farmland
  16. club — for dancing
  17. field — for sport
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. wound — an injury
  20. field — a subject
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — for money
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. club — for golf

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