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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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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: stem · key · content · plane · saw · wind · club · chest

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. saw — the tool
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — to come from
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chest — a box
  8. plane — a tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. content — happy
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — for a lock
  14. chest — of your body
  15. key — in music
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. key — the most important part
  20. club — for golf
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. saw — the tool
  23. wind — moving air
  24. club — a group

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