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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: rest · scale · clip · key · bound · current · straw · land

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. scale — in music
  5. land — ground
  6. scale — size or range
  7. current — electric
  8. current — happening now
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — obliged
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. land — a country
  13. current — of water
  14. bound — tied together
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rest — a break
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — for paper
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. key — for a lock
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — to come down

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