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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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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: rest · snap · club · bat · roll · pop · key · wind

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pop — soda
  3. key — for a lock
  4. club — a group
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pop — music
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. rest — what's left
  9. key — the most important part
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. key — in music
  13. rest — a break
  14. pop — to visit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. roll — a list
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rest — what's left
  21. club — for golf
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. club — for dancing
  24. wind — moving air

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