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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. present — a gift
  3. roll — a list
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. key — for a lock
  6. rash — hasty
  7. present — the time now
  8. clip — a video
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. capital — a city
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. key — the most important part
  16. roll — a cake
  17. present — there
  18. rash — a series
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. bat — the animal
  22. clip — to cut
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. capital — money

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