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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bulb — for light
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bulb — for light
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. key — in music
  11. content — happy
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. vault — a safe
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. press — to push
  16. key — for a lock
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. press — newspapers
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. press — a publisher
  21. date — the fruit
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. content — the amount
  24. bark — to shout

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