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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to point toward
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. tear — to rip
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. key — the most important part
  8. face — to confront
  9. spell — letters
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fork — in a road
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. tear — from crying
  17. key — for a lock
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. kid — to tease
  21. clip — a video
  22. kid — child
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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