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

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — the most important part
  4. ground — a position
  5. game — a match
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — of water
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a plant
  15. ground — crushed
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — for digging
  20. game — wild animals
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. root — of a word
  23. sharp — clever
  24. key — in music

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