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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 116 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. pit — a hole
  3. face — to confront
  4. rest — what's left
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — a city
  7. clip — to cut
  8. key — for a lock
  9. capital — money
  10. key — the most important part
  11. rest — a break
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. pit — in a race
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. march — the month
  21. rest — what's left
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — a video
  24. march — music

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