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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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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: fork · shower · chair · pitch · key · hand · chest · bulb

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. shower — to wash
  3. chest — of your body
  4. key — in music
  5. key — the most important part
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fork — in a road
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chest — a box
  13. hand — help
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pitch — completely

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