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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. mine — for digging
  4. snap — to click
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. bear — the animal
  7. court — of a king
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. key — for a lock
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. court — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. key — in music
  16. court — of law
  17. rash — a series
  18. chest — a box
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wound — an injury
  22. key — the most important part
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. rash — hasty

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