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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. craft — boats
  3. content — happy
  4. shower — to wash
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. key — for a lock
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. field — a subject
  12. plane — a tool
  13. kid — child
  14. field — for sport
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. key — in music
  19. field — farmland
  20. craft — a skill
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. kid — to tease
  23. shower — rain
  24. craft — a handicraft

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