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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. present — the time now
  3. clip — a video
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. key — in music
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rash — a series
  9. staff — employees
  10. present — a gift
  11. clip — to cut
  12. staff — employees
  13. present — there
  14. shower — rain
  15. staff — a stick
  16. shower — to wash
  17. key — for a lock
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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