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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. game — a match
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — an illness
  10. march — the month
  11. key — the most important part
  12. game — wild animals
  13. club — for golf
  14. march — the month
  15. rule — government
  16. march — music
  17. key — in music
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. club — for dancing
  20. tube — a container
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rule — a law
  24. key — for a lock

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