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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. key — the most important part
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. spell — letters
  8. key — in music
  9. kick — in football
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a music group
  12. spell — magic
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spell — a short time
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. key — for a lock
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. tear — to rip
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. scale — 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