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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 120 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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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. pitch — completely
  4. key — the most important part
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — a series
  7. clip — for paper
  8. race — the arms race
  9. key — in music
  10. clip — a video
  11. chip — to eat
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — help
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. race — a contest
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. hand — in cards
  19. chip — for betting
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. race — humankind

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