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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. stock — shares
  3. bank — for money
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bank — of a river
  6. bank — for money
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. stock — goods
  11. last — to go on
  12. key — in music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. last — final
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a city
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. last — finally
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. key — for a lock
  24. face — part of the head

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