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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. net — in sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. key — the most important part
  5. spring — the season
  6. roll — a cake
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. roll — a list
  12. pop — music
  13. net — for catching
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — in music
  18. capital — a city
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spring — of water
  21. net — after costs
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pop — to visit

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