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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — employees
  3. game — wild animals
  4. hand — help
  5. wake — a trail
  6. key — the most important part
  7. staff — a stick
  8. shower — rain
  9. content — the amount
  10. can — a tin
  11. shower — to wash
  12. key — in music
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. key — for a lock
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. can — a tin
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. can — to be able to
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. game — a match

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