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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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Word bank
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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. content — happy
  3. key — for a lock
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bound — certain
  6. charge — electricity
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spring — of water
  10. bound — obliged
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. key — the most important part
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. charge — a price
  15. spring — a coil
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. degree — an amount
  18. content — the amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spring — the season
  21. key — in music
  22. bound — tied together
  23. charge — in control
  24. arm — part of the 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