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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. pop — soda
  3. key — the most important part
  4. hand — help
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. chest — of your body
  7. staff — employees
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. staff — a stick
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — in cards
  13. key — in music
  14. pop — music
  15. chest — a box
  16. key — for a lock
  17. season — in sport
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. staff — employees
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bat — the animal

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