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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. key — in music
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bat — the animal
  6. capital — money
  7. key — the most important part
  8. bound — certain
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cell — in biology
  11. capital — a city
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. key — for a lock
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break

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