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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: net · fall · key · hand · kick · rule · ground · pitcher

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. key — the most important part
  3. net — in sport
  4. key — for a lock
  5. ground — a position
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. net — after costs
  9. rule — government
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. net — for catching
  12. ground — crushed
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. fall — the season
  19. rule — a law
  20. hand — in cards
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fall — to drop
  23. key — in music
  24. kick — in football

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