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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. key — in music
  8. band — a music group
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — the most important part
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — a subject
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. field — for sport
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. field — farmland
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. band — a ring
  23. capital — money
  24. temple — side 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