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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — a short time
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. key — the most important part
  6. degree — an amount
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — a phone
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. craft — boats
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. key — in music
  15. craft — a skill
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. spell — letters
  20. capital — a city
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. degree — temperature
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. cell — in biology

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