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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. pop — to visit
  3. face — part of the head
  4. pop — music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. key — the most important part
  7. tear — to rip
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. key — in music
  12. face — to point toward
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pop — soda
  20. tear — from crying
  21. game — wild animals
  22. face — to confront
  23. snap — to click
  24. perch — the fish

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