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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — a law
  4. current — electric
  5. tear — from crying
  6. key — for a lock
  7. rule — government
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — happening now
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. current — of water
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wind — moving air
  17. key — in music
  18. snap — to click

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