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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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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. fall — to drop
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. hand — help
  7. stand — to bear
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wind — moving air
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. capital — money
  15. fall — to drop
  16. capital — a city
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fall — the season
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bark — of a tree

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