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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. fall — the season
  3. key — the most important part
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. key — in music
  7. can — to be able to
  8. clip — a video
  9. can — a tin
  10. degree — from a university
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — temperature
  14. march — music
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — money
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fall — to drop
  23. can — a tin
  24. capital — a city

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