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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · clip · cold · face · coach · nail · spell · cue

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — the most important part
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cold — an illness
  6. key — in music
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. face — to confront
  9. cue — a hint
  10. clip — a video
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cue — a signal
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. face — to point toward
  15. spell — letters
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spell — magic
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. clip — to cut

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