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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. track — a path
  6. shower — rain
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. net — after costs
  9. key — in music
  10. content — the amount
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. track — to keep track
  13. mine — for digging
  14. shower — to wash
  15. track — a song
  16. key — for a lock
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. net — for catching
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. key — the most important part
  24. scale — size or range

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