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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. key — for a lock
  3. cold — not warm
  4. march — music
  5. can — a tin
  6. pop — music
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. march — the month
  9. key — the most important part
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. march — the month
  15. pop — soda
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. can — to be able to
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. key — in music
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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