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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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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: ground · kid · chest · racket · squash · tear · key · temple

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. chest — a box
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. squash — to crush
  5. tear — from crying
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. key — in music
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. ground — a position
  14. kid — child
  15. chest — of your body
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. key — for a lock
  19. kid — to tease
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. chest — of your body
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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