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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 120 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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. key — in music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. firm — a company
  6. field — farmland
  7. staff — a stick
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — for sport
  11. chest — a box
  12. shower — rain
  13. staff — employees
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. content — happy
  17. rush — hurry
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. firm — steady
  20. firm — decided
  21. content — the amount
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — for a lock
  24. field — a subject

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