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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wax — to grow
  4. key — the most important part
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. row — a line
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. chest — of your body
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. field — a subject
  16. row — to paddle
  17. content — the amount
  18. key — in music
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — happy
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. chest — of your body

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