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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a document
  4. key — for a lock
  5. object — to protest
  6. bat — the animal
  7. object — an aim
  8. last — final
  9. face — part of the head
  10. last — finally
  11. scale — size or range
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wound — an injury
  14. key — in music
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wound — an injury
  18. face — to point toward
  19. scale — in music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. last — to go on
  22. file — a tool
  23. object — a thing
  24. face — to confront

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