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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. key — for a lock
  3. tube — a container
  4. key — the most important part
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. key — in music
  10. clip — a video
  11. bat — the animal
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. chest — a box
  16. tube — the underground
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. clip — for paper

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