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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 116 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chip — to eat
  4. hand — help
  5. chip — for betting
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. land — to come down
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. net — for catching
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. saw — the tool
  13. land — ground
  14. net — in sport
  15. land — a country
  16. capital — a city
  17. key — in music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. key — the most important part
  20. capital — money
  21. tear — to rip
  22. net — after costs
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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