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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. key — the most important part
  4. land — ground
  5. prune — to trim
  6. wind — moving air
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. court — for sport
  9. key — in music
  10. present — a gift
  11. court — of a king
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. prune — to trim
  14. present — the time now
  15. land — a country
  16. court — of law
  17. key — for a lock
  18. present — there

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