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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 120 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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. bulb — for light
  3. key — for a lock
  4. spring — the season
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. key — the most important part
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. cold — not warm
  15. clip — for paper
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. spring — of water
  18. bulb — for light
  19. pound — a weight
  20. spring — a coil
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mark — a grade

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