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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. mine — for digging
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — music
  8. snap — to click
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. key — in music
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. pop — soda
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pop — to visit
  19. race — humankind
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chest — a box
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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