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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pop — soda
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. foot — a measure
  5. key — for a lock
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. capital — money
  12. pop — to visit
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. snap — to click
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. key — the most important part
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pop — music
  21. key — in music
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. mine — for digging

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