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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · spring · sharp · bass · field · mine · key · bark

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. key — in music
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. field — for sport
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. mine — for digging
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. field — farmland
  14. game — wild animals
  15. spring — the season
  16. bass — the fish
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — clever
  19. field — a subject
  20. spring — of water
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bass — low music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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