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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. spring — the season
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. clip — a video
  7. key — the most important part
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. clip — for paper
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. pass — a permit
  16. chair — a leader
  17. key — in music
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. content — happy
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — music
  24. content — the amount

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