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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 120 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spring — of water
  4. key — for a lock
  5. capital — a city
  6. key — in music
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. net — for catching
  9. board — to get on
  10. spell — letters
  11. object — to protest
  12. board — a committee
  13. capital — money
  14. object — a thing
  15. spring — a coil
  16. object — an aim
  17. net — in sport
  18. key — the most important part
  19. spell — magic
  20. net — after costs
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. spring — the season
  23. spell — a short time
  24. coach — a trainer

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