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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. spell — letters
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — the animal
  6. march — the month
  7. key — the most important part
  8. march — the month
  9. spell — a short time
  10. degree — from a university
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. file — a line of people
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. spell — magic
  19. march — music
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. key — in music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — of the leg

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