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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spell · kid · fan · field · kick · net · key · saw

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — for a lock
  4. kid — child
  5. kick — in football
  6. field — for sport
  7. key — in music
  8. spell — a short time
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. net — in sport
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spell — letters
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. field — a subject
  20. spell — magic
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. net — for catching

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