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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 120 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: content · hand · game · arm · pound · mine · chair · key

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. chair — a leader
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. key — for a lock
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. key — in music
  10. hand — in cards
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mine — for digging
  14. game — a match
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pound — a weight
  17. content — the amount
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. key — the most important part
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. game — wild animals

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