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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. capital — a city
  3. tear — from crying
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. key — for a lock
  7. club — for dancing
  8. mate — a partner
  9. club — for golf
  10. clip — for paper
  11. net — in sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. net — after costs
  16. mate — a friend
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. net — for catching
  19. mate — to breed
  20. club — a group
  21. clip — a video
  22. key — the most important part
  23. tear — to rip
  24. straw — a straw man

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