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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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Word bank
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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cold — not warm
  3. key — the most important part
  4. file — a tool
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — to paddle
  9. swing — music
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. file — a document
  12. club — for dancing
  13. club — a group
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. row — a line
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. swing — in golf
  19. key — in music
  20. club — for golf
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. swing — to play on
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. row — a quarrel

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