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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. net — after costs
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — not warm
  5. capital — a city
  6. net — for catching
  7. fine — high quality
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. net — in sport
  13. capital — money
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. band — a music group
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. squash — the sport
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. cold — an illness
  22. key — for a lock
  23. squash — to crush
  24. key — in music

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