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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. land — a country
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — to go on
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. land — ground
  11. key — the most important part
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. key — for a lock
  14. last — finally
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rash — hasty
  19. pitch — completely
  20. last — final
  21. land — to come down
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — a series

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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