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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: chest · rash · mine · jam · game · can · key · bark

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. can — to be able to
  4. key — the most important part
  5. key — for a lock
  6. can — a tin
  7. bark — to shout
  8. key — in music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rash — a series
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. can — a tin
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. game — a match
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. mine — an explosive

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