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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. key — for a lock
  3. net — after costs
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. file — a document
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — in music
  12. key — the most important part
  13. net — for catching
  14. wake — a trail
  15. scale — size or range
  16. file — a tool
  17. content — happy
  18. key — in music
  19. toast — bread
  20. net — in sport
  21. content — the amount
  22. file — a line of people
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. scale — for weighing

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