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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: bass · game · tear · last · key · stem · jam · pitcher

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. game — wild animals
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. tear — from crying
  8. key — for a lock
  9. key — in music
  10. tear — to rip
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. stem — to come from
  15. bass — low music
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. game — a match
  22. last — finally
  23. bass — the fish
  24. game — a kind of play

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