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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. key — for a lock
  3. cell — in biology
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. file — a tool
  6. rash — a series
  7. rule — government
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — hasty
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. rule — a law
  12. key — the most important part
  13. stem — to come from
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. key — in music
  16. file — a line of people
  17. cell — a phone
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. kid — child
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. file — a document
  24. dip — to sink

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