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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · wind · key · bulb · perch · scale · press · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. scale — size or range
  3. key — for a lock
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bulb — for light
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. press — to push
  12. key — in music
  13. key — the most important part
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. chest — of your body
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. press — newspapers
  19. scale — in music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. chest — a box
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. press — a publisher

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