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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. key — the most important part
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. hand — in cards
  6. track — a path
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. key — for a lock
  9. spring — the season
  10. rule — government
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. rule — a law
  13. clip — to cut
  14. key — in music
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. track — to keep track
  17. clip — for paper
  18. spring — of water
  19. track — a song
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — a video
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spring — a coil

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