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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. key — the most important part
  7. dip — to sink
  8. drill — army training
  9. kid — to tease
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. object — a thing
  12. spell — a short time
  13. key — in music
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a leader
  17. drill — the tool
  18. march — music
  19. drill — a practice
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. object — an aim
  22. key — for a lock
  23. object — to protest
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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