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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. mate — a friend
  3. key — in music
  4. mug — a face
  5. last — to go on
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. key — for a lock
  8. mug — to rob
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. last — finally
  12. key — the most important part
  13. mate — a partner
  14. cold — an illness
  15. last — final
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pop — soda
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mate — to breed
  23. scale — size or range
  24. pop — to visit

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