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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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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: swing · cue · key · fine · bark · capital · bound · net

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. net — after costs
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. net — in sport
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fine — all right
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bound — tied together
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — the most important part
  11. capital — money
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. capital — a city
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cue — a signal
  16. bound — obliged
  17. key — in music
  18. fine — high quality
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bound — certain
  23. net — for catching
  24. fine — a penalty

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