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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. snap — to click
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pound — a weight
  5. key — in music
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. shower — rain
  8. cap — a lid
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cap — of ice
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. root — of a plant
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. root — the cause
  15. cap — a hat
  16. key — for a lock
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. root — of a word
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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