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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cold — an illness
  6. key — in music
  7. chip — to eat
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. wind — moving air
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a city
  14. key — for a lock
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. ball — a dance
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. deal — to handle
  22. ball — a great time
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. staff — employees

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