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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: roll · drill · rash · race · cold · key · face · current

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cold — an illness
  3. key — in music
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. current — electric
  6. rash — a series
  7. race — humankind
  8. current — happening now
  9. drill — the tool
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — to confront
  12. key — for a lock
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — a contest
  15. face — part of the head
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. roll — a list
  18. drill — army training
  19. current — of water
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — the arms race
  23. drill — a practice
  24. roll — a cake

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