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

Word bank: march · kid · lash · fall · scale · wind · key · mug

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mug — a cup
  3. key — in music
  4. mug — a face
  5. march — music
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. key — for a lock
  9. kid — child
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — the month
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. march — the month
  16. key — the most important part
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mug — to rob
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wind — moving air
  21. scale — in music
  22. wind — moving air
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. scale — for weighing

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