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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. game — a match
  3. march — the month
  4. key — in music
  5. file — a document
  6. bank — of a river
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bank — for money
  10. land — ground
  11. rash — a series
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. prune — to trim
  15. land — to come down
  16. bank — for money
  17. march — the month
  18. prune — to trim
  19. rash — hasty
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. land — a country
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. march — music
  24. game — wild animals

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