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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. tear — from crying
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pop — soda
  9. current — electric
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. content — happy
  14. key — for a lock
  15. cold — not warm
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. current — of water
  21. current — happening now
  22. tear — from crying
  23. key — in music
  24. tear — to rip

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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