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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bank — for money
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. bank — of a river
  8. key — the most important part
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chair — a leader
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. key — for a lock
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bank — for money
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. drill — a practice
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. content — the amount
  23. key — in music
  24. file — a document

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