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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. press — a publisher
  5. key — in music
  6. key — the most important part
  7. field — for sport
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. firm — a company
  10. firm — decided
  11. field — a subject
  12. wound — an injury
  13. press — newspapers
  14. content — happy
  15. field — farmland
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. firm — steady
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. press — to push

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