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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: mine · season · key · snap · pitcher · roll · content · hand

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. season — of the year
  4. key — for a lock
  5. hand — in cards
  6. content — happy
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. key — in music
  10. content — the amount
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to click
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. mine — for digging
  20. roll — a cake
  21. key — the most important part
  22. hand — help
  23. season — in sport
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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