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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: race · key · bat · tear · chip · perch · drill · stock

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chip — for betting
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. race — a contest
  9. drill — a practice
  10. perch — the fish
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. key — in music
  14. race — humankind
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. stock — goods
  17. tear — from crying
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. chip — to eat
  24. race — the arms race

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