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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. key — in music
  4. key — the most important part
  5. toast — bread
  6. roll — a cake
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. chip — for betting
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. roll — a list
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. chip — to eat
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bulb — for light
  24. chip — in a computer

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