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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. wind — moving air
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bound — obliged
  5. capital — a city
  6. key — the most important part
  7. season — in sport
  8. capital — money
  9. drill — a practice
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. drill — the tool
  13. land — ground
  14. season — of the year
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wind — moving air
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. drill — army training
  19. bound — certain
  20. bound — tied together
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — to turn a key

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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