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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. club — for dancing
  9. key — for a lock
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. club — a group
  13. net — for catching
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. drill — army training
  16. key — in music
  17. net — after costs
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. club — for golf
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pound — a weight
  23. hand — in cards
  24. net — in sport

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