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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. march — the month
  3. key — for a lock
  4. spring — a coil
  5. snap — to click
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chair — a leader
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. march — the month
  10. last — to go on
  11. mate — a partner
  12. last — final
  13. key — the most important part
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spring — of water
  17. mate — a friend
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. march — music
  20. spring — the season
  21. shower — rain
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. key — in music
  24. last — finally

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