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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. spell — letters
  3. face — part of the head
  4. ball — a dance
  5. face — to point toward
  6. fall — the season
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rock — a stone
  9. key — for a lock
  10. chest — a box
  11. face — to confront
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rock — music
  15. spell — magic
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spell — a short time
  19. key — in music
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. ball — a great time
  24. fall — to drop

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