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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 is an ace ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. scale — in music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. key — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. file — a line of people
  10. key — the most important part
  11. file — a document
  12. tube — a container
  13. hand — in cards
  14. tube — the underground
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. file — a tool
  18. wake — a trail
  19. hand — help
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. hand — part of the body

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