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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: date · hand · rest · sharp · cap · tear · content · key

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — of ice
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. tear — to rip
  7. sharp — clever
  8. content — happy
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cap — a lid
  11. tear — from crying
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. hand — in cards
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. key — for a lock
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. rest — what's left
  18. hand — help
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. rest — a break
  22. key — in music
  23. rest — what's left
  24. tear — from crying

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