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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 do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. key — the most important part
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. key — in music
  5. rule — a law
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. key — for a lock
  11. band — a music group
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. rash — a series
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. date — the fruit
  17. rash — hasty
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — for sport
  21. rule — government
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wound — an injury
  24. band — a ring

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