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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 120 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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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: land · club · scale · lean · key · cell · ruler · chest

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. club — a group
  2. land — ground
  3. lean — to bend
  4. key — for a lock
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. chest — of your body
  8. club — for dancing
  9. chest — a box
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. land — to come down
  14. key — in music
  15. key — the most important part
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — a phone
  18. land — a country
  19. lean — thin
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. cell — in biology
  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