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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pop — soda
  4. key — for a lock
  5. pop — music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. key — in music
  8. land — ground
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. spell — letters
  13. key — the most important part
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. pop — to visit
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. land — to come down
  21. snap — to click
  22. shower — rain
  23. land — a country
  24. nail — on a finger

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