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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: rush · chest · roll · spell · trunk · key · tear · kick

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. key — for a lock
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. key — in music
  5. spell — letters
  6. chest — of your body
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. roll — a cake
  11. kick — in football
  12. tear — to rip
  13. key — the most important part
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. tear — from crying
  17. rush — hurry
  18. roll — a list
  19. spell — magic
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. chest — a box
  23. spell — a short time
  24. roll — on a roll

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