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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. mine — for digging
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. ball — a great time
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — the amount
  11. bat — the animal
  12. key — in music
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. content — happy
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. band — a ring
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. ball — a dance
  22. band — a music group
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bound — tied together

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