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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.

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: key · degree · kid · spring · mine · bear · net · row

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — in sport
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. spring — of water
  8. kid — to tease
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. key — the most important part
  12. row — a line
  13. kid — child
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. key — for a lock
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spring — the season
  18. row — to paddle
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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