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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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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: wound · key · court · cold · tear · lash · cue · cap

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — in music
  3. cap — of ice
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. court — for sport
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. key — for a lock
  9. cap — a lid
  10. tear — to rip
  11. court — of a king
  12. cold — an illness
  13. court — of law
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cue — for pool
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cue — a hint
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wound — an injury

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