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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: tear · spring · key · content · degree · racket · wave · bat

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. spring — of water
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — from crying
  7. content — happy
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. content — the amount
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. spring — a coil
  18. degree — temperature
  19. key — for a lock
  20. tear — from crying
  21. key — in music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. racket — for tennis

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