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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: hand · key · bore · game · row · cold · scale · cap

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. key — in music
  3. bore — to drill
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cold — not warm
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. key — for a lock
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. game — wild animals
  10. key — the most important part
  11. bore — to tire
  12. row — to paddle
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. scale — size or range
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cap — a hat
  20. hand — help
  21. row — a line
  22. scale — in music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cold — the Cold War

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