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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. track — a song
  3. key — in music
  4. shower — rain
  5. rush — hurry
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. key — the most important part
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. kid — to tease
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. track — to keep track
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. key — for a lock
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. kid — child
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. shower — to wash
  24. game — a kind of play

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