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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hand — in cards
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. key — for a lock
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rash — a series
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. key — in music
  12. spring — of water
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. spring — the season
  15. key — the most important part
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rash — hasty
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. coach — a trainer

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