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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. key — for a lock
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. file — a tool
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. key — in music
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a document
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hand — help
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pit — a hole
  20. deal — to handle
  21. date — the fruit
  22. pit — in a race
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — in cards

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