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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. present — a gift
  3. band — a music group
  4. pit — a hole
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. fall — to drop
  10. key — in music
  11. present — there
  12. key — for a lock
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — the season
  20. pit — in a race
  21. present — the time now
  22. pass — a permit
  23. cell — a phone
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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