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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: bay · sharp · root · kid · wind · face · chest · key

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. chest — of your body
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. key — the most important part
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. root — of a word
  8. chest — of your body
  9. root — of a plant
  10. key — for a lock
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chest — a box
  13. kid — to tease
  14. sharp — clever
  15. face — to confront
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. root — the cause
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. kid — child
  20. face — part of the head
  21. key — in music
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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