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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mate — a friend
  3. capital — money
  4. key — for a lock
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mine — for digging
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. cell — a phone
  12. capital — a city
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wound — an injury
  15. scale — in music
  16. key — in music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. scale — size or range
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mate — a partner
  24. key — the most important part

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