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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. stem — to come from
  3. march — the month
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. key — the most important part
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. file — a tool
  8. chest — a box
  9. file — a document
  10. key — in music
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. file — a line of people
  14. last — final
  15. last — finally
  16. march — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — the month
  21. kid — child
  22. last — to go on
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. kid — to tease

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