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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rule — a law
  3. tear — from crying
  4. saw — the tool
  5. key — for a lock
  6. season — of the year
  7. cell — in biology
  8. key — the most important part
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. key — in music
  12. capital — money
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cell — a phone
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. rule — government
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a city
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. season — in sport
  24. cell — in a prison

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