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

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. ball — a dance
  3. spring — of water
  4. capital — money
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bass — the fish
  9. spring — the season
  10. game — wild animals
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. game — a match
  16. key — for a lock
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bass — low music
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. capital — a city
  24. bat — in an idiom

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