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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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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: bat · deal · capital · face · key · club · craft · cell

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. face — part of the head
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. craft — a skill
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. face — to confront
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. face — to point toward
  11. club — for dancing
  12. bat — the animal
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. club — for golf
  15. key — for a lock
  16. cell — in biology
  17. club — a group
  18. deal — to handle
  19. key — the most important part
  20. capital — money
  21. key — in music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. capital — a city
  24. craft — boats

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