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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. hand — in cards
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. key — in music
  5. key — the most important part
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. key — for a lock
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. last — finally
  12. prune — to trim
  13. last — final
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. hand — help
  17. last — to go on
  18. prune — to trim
  19. capital — a city
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chair — a leader
  24. trunk — of a car

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