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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. face — to confront
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — in music
  6. key — the most important part
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a music group
  10. dip — to sink
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — part of the head
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. straw — a straw man

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