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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. face — to point toward
  4. craft — boats
  5. key — in music
  6. key — the most important part
  7. craft — a skill
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. face — to confront
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. prune — to trim
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. content — happy
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. content — the amount
  22. prune — to trim
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cold — the Cold War

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