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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. track — a song
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — child
  15. file — a line of people
  16. track — a path
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. track — to keep track
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. pitcher — a jug

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