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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.

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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: racket · wind · bulb · ground · bowl · hand · key · prune

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. key — for a lock
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ground — a position
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. key — in music
  15. hand — help
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. wind — moving air
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. wind — moving air
  24. ground — the earth

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