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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: bear · roll · last · chair · track · key · clip · ground

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bear — the animal
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. track — to keep track
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. roll — a list
  7. chair — a leader
  8. last — to go on
  9. clip — a video
  10. ground — a position
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. last — finally
  13. key — in music
  14. track — a path
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. clip — to cut
  18. track — a song
  19. ground — crushed
  20. last — final
  21. roll — a cake
  22. key — the most important part
  23. ground — the earth
  24. clip — for paper

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