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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — a video
  4. ground — a position
  5. last — finally
  6. march — the month
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. key — for a lock
  12. toast — bread
  13. ground — crushed
  14. march — the month
  15. key — the most important part
  16. march — music
  17. mine — for digging
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. wind — moving air
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. clip — for paper
  24. ground — the earth

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