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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pop — music
  4. track — to keep track
  5. drill — army training
  6. key — the most important part
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. march — music
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. mine — for digging
  11. snap — to click
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. pop — to visit
  15. drill — a practice
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — soda
  18. march — the month
  19. key — in music
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. drill — the tool
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. dip — to sink

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