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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. key — for a lock
  3. file — a line of people
  4. cap — of ice
  5. file — a document
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bound — certain
  9. drill — army training
  10. bound — tied together
  11. key — in music
  12. key — the most important part
  13. cap — a lid
  14. object — a thing
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. object — to protest
  17. bound — obliged
  18. drill — a practice
  19. tear — from crying
  20. file — a tool
  21. cap — a hat
  22. object — an aim
  23. drill — the tool
  24. tear — to rip

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