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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fork — in a road
  3. key — for a lock
  4. scale — size or range
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kid — to tease
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — child
  14. court — of law
  15. key — in music
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. court — of a king
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. scale — in music

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