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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. key — the most important part
  3. kid — child
  4. can — a tin
  5. race — a contest
  6. chest — a box
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. band — a ring
  11. hand — help
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — humankind
  16. can — to be able to
  17. can — a tin
  18. row — a line
  19. hand — in cards
  20. chest — of your body
  21. row — to paddle
  22. key — in music
  23. race — the arms race
  24. key — for a lock

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