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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. key — in music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bass — low music
  5. field — farmland
  6. lean — to bend
  7. file — a document
  8. spell — magic
  9. lean — thin
  10. key — the most important part
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cold — not warm
  14. key — for a lock
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mate — to breed
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. spell — letters
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. field — for sport
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — the fish

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