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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. last — final
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rock — music
  5. bank — for money
  6. key — the most important part
  7. hand — in cards
  8. last — finally
  9. key — for a lock
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — a stone
  12. key — in music
  13. chest — a box
  14. hand — help
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. row — to paddle
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — of a river
  24. last — to go on

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