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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. key — for a lock
  6. bound — obliged
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. bound — certain
  9. key — the most important part
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. fork — in a road
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cold — an illness
  24. key — in music

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