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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: key · game · tear · kid · date · march · saw · drill

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — child
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. drill — army training
  8. game — wild animals
  9. march — the month
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. key — the most important part
  14. drill — the tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. saw — the tool
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. key — for a lock
  19. drill — a practice
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. date — the fruit
  23. game — a match
  24. kid — to tease

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