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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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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 · bank · spring · court · cell · content · bark · rest

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — for money
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. key — the most important part
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. court — of a king
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cell — a phone
  17. court — for sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. spring — a coil
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. court — of law
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. key — in music
  24. rest — a break

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