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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wound — an injury
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. present — a gift
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pop — music
  9. key — in music
  10. spring — of water
  11. key — the most important part
  12. spring — the season
  13. present — the time now
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — to visit
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pop — soda
  19. spell — magic
  20. snap — to click
  21. present — there
  22. spell — letters
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wound — an injury

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