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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. key — the most important part
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. saw — the tool
  6. present — a gift
  7. tube — a container
  8. saw — the tool
  9. key — for a lock
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mate — a partner
  12. capital — money
  13. chip — to eat
  14. land — a country
  15. chip — for betting
  16. mate — a friend
  17. key — in music
  18. capital — a city
  19. present — there
  20. mate — to breed
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. land — ground
  23. present — the time now
  24. chip — in a computer

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