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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. content — the amount
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. hand — help
  5. key — the most important part
  6. can — a tin
  7. pop — to visit
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — of water
  11. pop — music
  12. content — happy
  13. land — a country
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. key — in music
  18. hand — in cards
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. pop — soda
  22. spring — the season
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. key — for a lock

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