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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bound — certain
  5. perch — the fish
  6. key — for a lock
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stock — shares
  9. present — there
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. present — the time now
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. key — in music
  18. charge — electricity
  19. chest — a box
  20. charge — a price
  21. charge — in control
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. stock — goods

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