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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. content — the amount
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a ring
  8. clip — a video
  9. spell — a short time
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. foot — a measure
  15. spell — magic
  16. band — a music group
  17. clip — to cut
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. spell — letters
  20. key — the most important part
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. key — in music
  23. clip — for paper
  24. dip — to sink

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