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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. key — the most important part
  4. spring — the season
  5. rush — hurry
  6. game — a match
  7. craft — boats
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. key — for a lock
  12. craft — a skill
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. pop — soda
  15. key — in music
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pop — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — of water
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. pop — to visit
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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