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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. net — after costs
  5. land — ground
  6. key — the most important part
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. race — humankind
  9. land — to come down
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. capital — a city
  13. key — in music
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — in sport
  19. land — a country
  20. capital — money
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. net — for catching

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