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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 124 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. spring — the season
  3. craft — boats
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. staff — employees
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. staff — a stick
  10. staff — employees
  11. press — to push
  12. spring — of water
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. key — in music
  15. key — the most important part
  16. press — newspapers
  17. march — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. spring — a coil
  21. craft — a skill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — the month
  24. press — a publisher

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