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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. kid — to tease
  3. key — in music
  4. key — the most important part
  5. tube — the underground
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. drill — a practice
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. land — ground
  10. drill — army training
  11. date — the fruit
  12. land — a country
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. drill — the tool
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. kid — child
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — to come down
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. tube — a container

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