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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. chest — a box
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — for sport
  5. spring — of water
  6. key — in music
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. key — the most important part
  9. spring — a coil
  10. squash — the sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. squash — to crush
  14. game — a match
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. court — of law
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. chest — of your body
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. spring — the season
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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