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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: tear · cold · drill · wake · date · mouse · key · club

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — for dancing
  6. drill — the tool
  7. date — the fruit
  8. club — for golf
  9. drill — a practice
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — not warm
  12. club — a group
  13. tear — to rip
  14. key — the most important part
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. drill — army training
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. key — in music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. wake — before a funeral

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