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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. key — the most important part
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bat — the animal
  10. dip — to sink
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. spring — of water
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. court — for sport
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — in music
  18. court — of law
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. kick — in football
  21. court — of a king
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. shower — rain
  24. dip — to dunk

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