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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. key — the most important part
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tube — a container
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. root — of a word
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tube — the underground
  15. shower — rain
  16. root — the cause
  17. chest — a box
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pit — in a race
  20. key — in music
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — completely

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