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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. clip — to cut
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. key — for a lock
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. game — wild animals
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. key — in music
  19. pound — a weight
  20. spring — a coil
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. game — a match

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