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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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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. key — in music
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — for a lock
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — child
  7. rest — a break
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rule — a law
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rest — what's left
  15. game — a match
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rule — government
  18. rest — what's left

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