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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: date · rash · content · wind · racket · tear · key · hide

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. key — the most important part
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. key — for a lock
  5. wind — moving air
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rash — a series
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. key — in music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. date — the fruit

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