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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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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 · clip · chair · roll · nail · bat · mouse · spring

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. chair — a leader
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. key — in music
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. key — the most important part
  18. roll — a list
  19. spring — the season
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spring — of water
  23. clip — to cut
  24. spring — a coil

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