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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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Word bank
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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 · drill · arm · face · march · mine · file · pop

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. drill — a practice
  3. march — the month
  4. key — the most important part
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. march — music
  7. key — in music
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. drill — the tool
  12. face — part of the head
  13. key — for a lock
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a document
  16. face — to point toward
  17. pop — soda
  18. drill — army training
  19. march — the month
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pop — to visit
  22. face — to confront
  23. file — a tool
  24. arm — part of the body

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