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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bound — certain
  6. spring — the season
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bank — for money
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bank — for money
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bound — tied together
  15. row — a line
  16. key — in music
  17. spring — a coil
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bound — obliged
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — in music
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bank — of a river
  24. wind — to turn a key

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