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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: ground · saw · capital · race · cue · key · wind · mug

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. capital — money
  3. saw — the tool
  4. capital — a city
  5. key — for a lock
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ground — the earth
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mug — a face
  10. wind — moving air
  11. key — the most important part
  12. saw — the tool
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. race — humankind
  15. cue — for pool
  16. race — a contest
  17. ground — a position
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cue — a signal
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cue — a hint
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. ground — crushed
  24. key — in music

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