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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — help
  4. band — a music group
  5. tear — to rip
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. key — for a lock
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. staff — a stick
  11. capital — a city
  12. perch — the fish
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. band — a ring
  18. key — the most important part
  19. capital — money
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. key — in music
  23. staff — employees
  24. tear — from crying

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