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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. present — a gift
  3. key — for a lock
  4. spring — a coil
  5. present — there
  6. spring — of water
  7. file — a tool
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. content — happy
  11. content — the amount
  12. spring — the season
  13. pitch — completely
  14. ground — crushed
  15. present — the time now
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. key — in music
  19. ground — the earth
  20. key — the most important part
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. ground — a position
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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