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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bank — for money
  8. craft — boats
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. court — of a king
  11. key — for a lock
  12. ball — a great time
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. craft — a skill
  15. ball — a dance
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — for sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bank — for money
  21. degree — from a university
  22. court — of law
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bank — of a river

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