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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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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. march — the month
  3. key — in music
  4. key — for a lock
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fall — to drop
  7. march — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. can — a tin
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. degree — an amount
  16. march — the month
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — to be able to

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