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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 120 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a match
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — wild animals
  6. root — of a plant
  7. drill — the tool
  8. tear — to rip
  9. face — to confront
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — in music
  12. face — to point toward
  13. kid — to tease
  14. face — part of the head
  15. spring — of water
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. kid — child
  18. tear — from crying
  19. spring — the season
  20. root — the cause
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. root — of a word
  23. key — the most important part
  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