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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. degree — from a university
  3. key — in music
  4. drill — the tool
  5. kid — to tease
  6. key — the most important part
  7. content — happy
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. mate — a friend
  10. content — the amount
  11. mate — a partner
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — to eat
  14. wax — to grow
  15. chip — for betting
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. mate — to breed
  19. kid — child
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — temperature
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  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