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

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bulb — for light
  4. content — happy
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — moving air
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. content — the amount
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. can — to be able to
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bulb — for light
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wind — moving air
  17. key — in music
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. key — the most important part
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. can — a tin
  23. hand — in cards
  24. can — a tin

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