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

Word bank: bark · cell · club · prune · tear · wake · key · capital

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — a trail
  4. key — the most important part
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. club — a group
  7. tear — from crying
  8. prune — to trim
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. club — for golf
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — a phone
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. capital — a city
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. key — in music
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. capital — money
  24. club — for dancing

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