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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. roll — a list
  3. lean — thin
  4. key — the most important part
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. key — for a lock
  7. rash — hasty
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — the underground
  10. roll — a cake
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — to bend
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. court — for sport
  16. craft — a skill
  17. court — of law
  18. tube — a container
  19. key — in music
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — boats
  22. court — of a king
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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