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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. land — ground
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — a line
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. march — the month
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. pop — music
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a ring
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bulb — for light
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. march — music
  17. band — a music group
  18. row — to paddle
  19. key — the most important part
  20. key — in music
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pop — soda
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. land — to come down

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