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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 116 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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — the season
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — in music
  6. spring — of water
  7. hand — help
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stand — to bear
  12. tear — to rip
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chip — to eat
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. hand — in cards
  19. content — happy
  20. content — the amount
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. tear — from crying
  24. shower — rain

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