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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cold — an illness
  3. march — the month
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — the most important part
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. prune — to trim
  12. march — the month
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. board — a committee
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. key — in music
  21. board — to get on
  22. march — music
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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