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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 116 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — temperature
  6. game — wild animals
  7. current — of water
  8. game — a match
  9. field — farmland
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. key — in music
  14. current — electric
  15. degree — from a university
  16. current — happening now
  17. last — to go on
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. field — for sport
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a line of people
  24. key — the most important part

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