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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. content — happy
  3. key — the most important part
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. prune — to trim
  7. content — the amount
  8. key — in music
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. row — a line
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. degree — an amount
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. degree — temperature
  23. key — for a lock
  24. row — to paddle

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