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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wind — moving air
  8. sharp — clever
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. key — in music
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. spring — the season
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. spring — of water
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. key — the most important part
  24. deal — to handle

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