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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · rock · fork · key · press · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. key — for a lock
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. key — in music
  7. key — the most important part
  8. press — a publisher
  9. rock — music
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. press — to push
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fork — in a road
  18. rock — to move gently

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