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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: game · arm · bass · key · straw · spring · fan · wake

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. key — the most important part
  3. bass — low music
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. key — in music
  7. game — a match
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spring — the season
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. key — for a lock
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spring — of water
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. wake — a trail
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. arm — a part of something

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