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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: chest · pop · content · wind · game · key · press · bore

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — the amount
  3. chest — of your body
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — the most important part
  6. press — to push
  7. key — in music
  8. bore — to tire
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pop — to visit
  12. content — happy
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. wind — moving air
  15. press — a publisher
  16. wind — moving air
  17. press — newspapers
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pop — soda
  20. bore — to drill
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. pop — music
  24. chest — a box

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