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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. key — in music
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. roll — a cake
  7. band — a music group
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a ring
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light
  19. court — of a king
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. key — for a lock
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. court — of law

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