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

Word bank: tear · squash · cold · last · march · race · mug · key

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. march — the month
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. march — music
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. race — a contest
  9. mug — a face
  10. squash — to crush
  11. race — the arms race
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. race — humankind
  18. key — for a lock
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — to go on
  24. march — the month

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