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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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Word bank
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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. race — humankind
  4. file — a tool
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. file — a document
  8. key — the most important part
  9. drill — the tool
  10. key — for a lock
  11. craft — boats
  12. file — a line of people
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — the arms race
  15. drill — a practice
  16. kid — to tease
  17. key — in music
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. kid — child
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. craft — a skill
  24. drill — army training

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