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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. march — music
  3. key — in music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rest — a break
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. key — the most important part
  8. key — for a lock
  9. march — the month
  10. rest — what's left
  11. capital — a city
  12. cell — in biology
  13. rest — what's left
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cell — a phone
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bound — tied together
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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