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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · net · fine · key · last · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fine — all right
  3. last — finally
  4. key — for a lock
  5. net — for catching
  6. face — to point toward
  7. last — to go on
  8. fine — high quality
  9. face — to confront
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. key — the most important part
  12. content — the amount
  13. net — in sport
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. last — final
  16. net — after costs
  17. face — part of the head
  18. key — in music

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