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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 116 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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. key — for a lock
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. ball — a dance
  6. content — the amount
  7. key — in music
  8. game — a match
  9. game — wild animals
  10. shower — to wash
  11. hand — in cards
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — the cause
  14. spring — the season
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ball — a great time
  17. spring — of water
  18. key — the most important part
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spring — a coil
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — help
  24. content — happy

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