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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. ground — a position
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. key — the most important part
  6. cue — a signal
  7. ground — crushed
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. key — in music
  11. cue — a hint
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cue — for pool
  16. tube — a container
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. tube — the underground
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chest — a box
  24. clip — a video

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