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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. key — for a lock
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — a video
  8. fork — in a road
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. clip — for paper
  12. key — in music
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. spring — the season
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. clip — to cut
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bark — to shout
  21. hand — help
  22. staff — employees
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. key — the most important part

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