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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — an illness
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. bulb — for light
  9. spring — of water
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. key — in music
  14. mate — a partner
  15. plane — a tool
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. mate — a friend
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mate — to breed
  23. key — the most important part
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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