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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: key · fan · last · kid · bound · stock · chest · perch

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. stock — shares
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. perch — the fish
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bound — certain
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. key — for a lock
  14. kid — child
  15. key — in music
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. last — to go on
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stock — goods
  20. chest — a box
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — tied together
  24. key — the most important part

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