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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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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: object · temple · snap · ground · key · mine · straw · field

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. ground — a position
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. key — the most important part
  5. object — an aim
  6. key — for a lock
  7. snap — to click
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ground — crushed
  12. ground — the earth
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. key — in music
  17. mine — for digging
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. field — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. object — a thing
  24. object — to protest

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