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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. key — for a lock
  3. rule — a law
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. track — to keep track
  7. key — in music
  8. track — a path
  9. rule — government
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. roll — a list
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. row — to paddle
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. track — a song
  18. row — a line
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. key — the most important part
  21. band — a music group
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. roll — a cake

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