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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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. key — the most important part
  3. bass — the fish
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. clip — a video
  8. key — for a lock
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. clip — for paper
  12. tube — a container
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bass — low music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. chip — for betting
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chip — to eat
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. key — in music

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