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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. key — for a lock
  5. object — an aim
  6. kick — in football
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. key — in music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — the most important part
  11. object — a thing
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. row — a line
  16. content — the amount
  17. chest — of your body
  18. deal — to handle
  19. row — to paddle
  20. content — happy
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. object — to protest
  24. chest — a box

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