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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bear — the animal
  7. content — the amount
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. mate — a partner
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bear — the animal
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mate — a friend
  17. key — in music
  18. shower — to wash
  19. clip — to cut
  20. content — happy
  21. rash — hasty
  22. shower — rain
  23. plane — a tool
  24. rash — a series

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