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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 120 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. season — in sport
  3. capital — money
  4. cold — an illness
  5. capital — a city
  6. last — to go on
  7. key — the most important part
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pop — music
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. last — final
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. last — finally
  19. key — in music
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — soda

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