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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. hand — in cards
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ground — crushed
  6. capital — money
  7. stock — shares
  8. bound — obliged
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. capital — a city
  11. ground — the earth
  12. key — the most important part
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. key — in music
  15. bound — certain
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bound — tied together
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. stock — goods
  24. ground — a position

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