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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'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. key — in music
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mark — a trace
  11. content — happy
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. key — for a lock
  16. content — the amount
  17. mark — a grade
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. bat — the animal
  24. key — the most important part

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