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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 · kid · spell · land · club · mate · bear · cold

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. mate — a friend
  6. land — ground
  7. club — a group
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — magic
  11. bear — the animal
  12. key — the most important part
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. club — for dancing
  16. key — in music
  17. club — for golf
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — not warm
  20. key — for a lock
  21. kid — to tease
  22. mate — a partner
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — the Cold War

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