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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. key — for a lock
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. capital — a city
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. shower — rain
  14. branch — a division
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wound — an injury
  18. key — in music
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. capital — money

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