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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. track — to keep track
  3. spring — the season
  4. court — for sport
  5. track — a song
  6. court — of a king
  7. track — a path
  8. spring — a coil
  9. row — to paddle
  10. key — the most important part
  11. spring — of water
  12. key — for a lock
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. game — wild animals
  15. row — a line
  16. game — a match
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. court — of law
  19. key — in music
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitcher — a jug

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