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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. kid — child
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. rash — hasty
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. rash — a series
  11. chest — of your body
  12. key — in music
  13. mug — to rob
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wax — to grow
  17. object — to protest
  18. mug — a face
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. object — a thing
  21. object — an aim
  22. field — a subject
  23. key — for a lock
  24. mug — a cup

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