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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. scale — in music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. march — music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bat — the animal
  7. key — for a lock
  8. mate — a partner
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. key — the most important part
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mate — a friend
  14. object — to protest
  15. key — in music
  16. march — the month
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. shower — rain
  20. object — an aim
  21. snap — to click
  22. object — a thing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. march — the month

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