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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. capital — money
  5. ball — a great time
  6. can — to be able to
  7. chest — a box
  8. game — a match
  9. key — in music
  10. game — wild animals
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. chest — of your body
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. capital — a city
  16. ball — a dance
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. can — a tin
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — the animal
  23. can — a tin
  24. key — for a lock

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