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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. scale — in music
  6. court — for sport
  7. key — the most important part
  8. field — farmland
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. snap — to click
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — to tease
  16. field — for sport
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. kid — child
  19. key — in music
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. key — for a lock
  24. field — a subject

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