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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spring — the season
  3. fine — all right
  4. pit — in a race
  5. band — a music group
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. club — for golf
  8. key — in music
  9. mine — for digging
  10. band — a ring
  11. spring — of water
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pit — a hole
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. club — a group
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fine — high quality
  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