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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. object — to protest
  3. rule — a law
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pop — soda
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. staff — a stick
  8. drill — a practice
  9. object — an aim
  10. pop — music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. drill — the tool
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — an amount
  15. key — for a lock
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rule — government
  18. drill — army training
  19. staff — employees
  20. tear — to rip
  21. object — a thing
  22. degree — temperature
  23. staff — employees
  24. key — in music

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