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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. club — a group
  6. key — in music
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. march — the month
  10. club — for golf
  11. tube — the underground
  12. key — the most important part
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. tube — a container
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. club — for dancing
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. march — music

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