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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: wound · content · chest · chip · key · land · last · root

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. land — ground
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. last — finally
  6. key — for a lock
  7. root — of a word
  8. last — final
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. root — the cause
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. last — to go on
  16. land — a country
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chest — a box
  19. content — happy
  20. root — of a plant
  21. land — to come down
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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