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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. content — happy
  3. lean — to bend
  4. tube — a container
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. tube — the underground
  7. lean — thin
  8. content — the amount
  9. game — a match
  10. key — the most important part
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. key — in music
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. row — to paddle
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. game — wild animals
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. present — there
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. row — a line

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