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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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468
Word bank
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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. content — happy
  4. ball — a great time
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. kid — child
  7. key — in music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ball — a dance
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. key — for a lock
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — the amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. kid — to tease
  20. pitch — completely
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. key — the most important part
  23. branch — a division
  24. content — videos and posts

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