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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. object — to protest
  2. row — a line
  3. rest — what's left
  4. race — humankind
  5. key — the most important part
  6. object — a thing
  7. kid — child
  8. rest — what's left
  9. kid — to tease
  10. ground — a position
  11. hand — in cards
  12. race — the arms race
  13. key — for a lock
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. row — to paddle
  16. ground — crushed
  17. race — a contest
  18. rest — a break
  19. key — in music
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. object — an aim
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hand — part of the body
  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