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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: last · key · straw · temple · hand · kid · capital · court

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. court — of law
  3. hand — help
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. hand — in cards
  6. capital — money
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. last — final
  9. key — the most important part
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. court — of a king
  12. key — for a lock
  13. kid — child
  14. last — finally
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. capital — a city
  22. last — to go on
  23. key — in music
  24. kid — to tease

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