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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. key — for a lock
  4. tube — the underground
  5. key — the most important part
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. squash — to crush
  10. shower — rain
  11. cap — of ice
  12. spring — the season
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. cap — a hat
  15. tube — a container
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spring — a coil
  19. key — in music
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cap — a lid
  24. squash — the sport

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