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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. key — the most important part
  5. clip — a video
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wind — moving air
  11. key — in music
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. bear — the animal
  15. face — to point toward
  16. hand — in cards
  17. capital — money
  18. face — to confront
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. face — part of the head
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. key — for a lock
  24. fan — to cool the air

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