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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. key — in music
  5. row — a line
  6. race — a contest
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — humankind
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — not warm
  12. key — the most important part
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wound — an injury
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — to handle
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. race — the arms race
  23. hand — in cards
  24. calf — a young animal

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