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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. capital — a city
  2. key — the most important part
  3. tear — from crying
  4. wound — an injury
  5. tear — from crying
  6. charge — a price
  7. key — in music
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. spell — magic
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. spell — letters
  13. charge — in control
  14. content — happy
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. charge — electricity
  18. capital — money
  19. content — the amount
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. tear — to rip
  23. spell — a short time
  24. key — for a lock

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