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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wake — a trail
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — of ice
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. tube — the underground
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. row — a line
  13. march — music
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. march — the month
  17. tube — a container
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. saw — the tool
  21. key — for a lock
  22. march — the month
  23. key — in music
  24. row — to paddle

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