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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
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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: pitcher · trunk · cell · face · nail · cold · land · key

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. key — in music
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. key — for a lock
  7. land — to come down
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — to confront
  11. cell — in biology
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. land — ground
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cold — an illness
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. key — the most important part

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