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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. net — in sport
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. swing — music
  9. key — in music
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — the season
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — to play on
  16. key — the most important part
  17. swing — in golf
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. spring — of water
  23. net — for catching
  24. key — for a lock

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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