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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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. key — for a lock
  3. mate — a friend
  4. key — the most important part
  5. mate — a partner
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. field — a subject
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. row — to paddle
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. field — farmland
  16. foot — a measure
  17. field — for sport
  18. face — to confront
  19. content — happy
  20. face — to point toward
  21. key — in music
  22. mate — to breed
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. row — a line

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