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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. last — finally
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. clip — for paper
  5. last — to go on
  6. dip — to sink
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — the month
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — music
  12. cold — an illness
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pit — a hole
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. staff — employees
  17. pit — in a race
  18. staff — a stick
  19. last — final
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. key — for a lock
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. key — in music
  24. march — the month

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