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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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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: object · cap · degree · band · lie · key · hand · kid

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — for a lock
  3. kid — child
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. object — to protest
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. object — an aim
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. object — a thing
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. band — a music group
  14. cap — a hat
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. cap — a lid
  19. lie — to recline
  20. degree — from a university
  21. key — in music
  22. cap — of ice
  23. band — a ring
  24. hand — in cards

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