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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: drill · snap · court · capital · prune · wind · suit · key

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. key — the most important part
  3. suit — to fit
  4. drill — a practice
  5. suit — in cards
  6. drill — army training
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. key — in music
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. drill — the tool
  18. court — for sport
  19. key — for a lock
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. court — of a king
  23. suit — clothes
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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