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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. key — for a lock
  3. wound — an injury
  4. key — in music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bound — obliged
  9. key — the most important part
  10. capital — a city
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. squash — to crush
  13. present — the time now
  14. bound — certain
  15. capital — money
  16. file — a tool
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bound — tied together
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. present — there

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