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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. field — farmland
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. rest — what's left
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. key — for a lock
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. content — the amount
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. key — in music
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rest — what's left
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — child
  18. rest — a break
  19. stand — to bear
  20. shower — to wash
  21. kick — in football
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. kid — to tease
  24. content — happy

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