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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. capital — money
  3. key — in music
  4. race — a contest
  5. scale — in music
  6. pop — soda
  7. content — happy
  8. key — the most important part
  9. pop — to visit
  10. capital — a city
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. race — the arms race
  15. content — the amount
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. key — for a lock
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wound — an injury
  23. race — humankind
  24. branch — a division

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