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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — a video
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. fine — all right
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. key — the most important part
  13. fine — high quality
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. key — in music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. key — for a lock
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tear — to rip
  21. mine — for digging
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fine — a penalty

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