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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: cold · bore · hand · club · key · kick · race · kid

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — child
  3. club — for golf
  4. bore — to tire
  5. cold — an illness
  6. race — a contest
  7. key — the most important part
  8. kick — in football
  9. club — for dancing
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. hand — in cards
  15. key — in music
  16. hand — help
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kid — to tease
  19. key — for a lock
  20. bore — to drill
  21. race — the arms race
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. race — humankind
  24. bore — gave birth

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