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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — the earth
  3. spring — a coil
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — the most important part
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. season — of the year
  10. spring — of water
  11. band — a music group
  12. land — to come down
  13. season — in sport
  14. club — for golf
  15. ground — a position
  16. club — for dancing
  17. club — a group
  18. land — a country
  19. wound — an injury
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wound — an injury
  22. band — a ring
  23. key — in music
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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