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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cell — in biology
  4. deal — to handle
  5. root — of a word
  6. root — the cause
  7. spring — a coil
  8. key — for a lock
  9. track — a path
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. track — a song
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. track — to keep track
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. root — of a plant
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. spring — of water
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. key — in music
  23. spring — the season
  24. bat — for baseball

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