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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. land — ground
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — to come down
  5. march — the month
  6. staff — employees
  7. key — in music
  8. key — for a lock
  9. staff — employees
  10. mate — to breed
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. march — music
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wind — moving air
  18. shower — rain
  19. land — a country
  20. mate — a friend
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — the animal
  23. key — the most important part
  24. mate — a partner

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