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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: spring · key · saw · shower · cue · firm · chest · cold

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. firm — a company
  5. spring — of water
  6. chest — of your body
  7. saw — the tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spring — the season
  11. chest — a box
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. key — for a lock
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. shower — rain
  17. cue — a hint
  18. firm — decided
  19. cold — an illness
  20. key — in music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a signal
  24. firm — steady

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