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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. key — the most important part
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spell — a short time
  5. degree — an amount
  6. drill — the tool
  7. spell — magic
  8. clip — to cut
  9. root — the cause
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. key — in music
  13. spell — letters
  14. drill — army training
  15. key — for a lock
  16. degree — from a university
  17. clip — for paper
  18. drill — a practice
  19. root — of a plant
  20. clip — a video
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — temperature
  23. root — of a word
  24. cabinet — ministers

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