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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. spring — of water
  4. key — the most important part
  5. spring — the season
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. court — for sport
  8. net — after costs
  9. hand — in cards
  10. clip — for paper
  11. court — of law
  12. court — of a king
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — help
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. key — for a lock
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. net — in sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. net — for catching

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