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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cue — a hint
  3. capital — a city
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cue — a signal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — after costs
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — a box
  10. key — for a lock
  11. capital — money
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. key — in music
  15. net — for catching
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cue — for pool
  22. tear — to rip
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. net — in sport

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