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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.

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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. chest — a box
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — for a lock
  5. spring — the season
  6. track — to keep track
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. key — in music
  11. fine — high quality
  12. spring — a coil
  13. track — a path
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. club — for golf
  17. hand — help
  18. track — a song
  19. chest — of your body
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. club — a group
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. spring — of water

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