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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: key · tube · snap · kid · march · row · racket · scale

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. tube — the underground
  3. key — for a lock
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. tube — a container
  8. kid — to tease
  9. key — in music
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. row — to paddle
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. scale — size or range
  14. snap — to click
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. kid — child
  19. row — a line
  20. march — the month
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. scale — in music
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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