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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 · bass · cold · game · cabinet · bear · kick · snap

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — low music
  9. snap — to click
  10. cold — an illness
  11. key — in music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bear — the animal
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. key — for a lock
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. game — a match
  23. kick — in football
  24. bear — the animal

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