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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: key · bound · tear · press · march · rest

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. march — the month
  3. bound — obliged
  4. press — to push
  5. rest — a break
  6. tear — to rip
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rest — what's left
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bound — certain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — the month
  13. bound — tied together
  14. rest — what's left
  15. key — the most important part
  16. press — newspapers
  17. key — for a lock
  18. march — 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