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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: kid · object · hand · key · press · fall · wake · band

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. key — the most important part
  3. press — to push
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wake — a trail
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. band — a ring
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. object — an aim
  11. kid — child
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. object — to protest
  14. object — a thing
  15. press — newspapers
  16. fall — to drop
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hand — in cards
  21. key — in music
  22. hand — help
  23. fall — the season
  24. press — a publisher

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