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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hand — in cards
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. kid — child
  7. file — a line of people
  8. hand — help
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. rule — a law
  11. kid — to tease
  12. charge — electricity
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. file — a tool
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — in music
  17. rule — government
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. charge — a price
  20. cold — an illness
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. kick — in football
  23. charge — in control
  24. file — a document

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