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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — a lid
  7. content — happy
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chest — a box
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. cap — of ice
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. clip — to cut
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. key — the most important part
  23. clip — a video
  24. mouse — for a computer

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