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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. key — in music
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. key — the most important part
  7. fall — to drop
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. scale — size or range
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stem — to come from
  17. fall — to drop
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fall — the season
  22. scale — in music
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hand — help

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