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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. branch — a division
  3. charge — a price
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. snap — to click
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. charge — in control
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — for paper
  13. swing — in golf
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. key — in music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. charge — electricity
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. clip — to cut
  24. racket — for tennis

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