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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: key · clip · capital · wake · mine · temple · cold · club

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cold — not warm
  4. club — a group
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. club — for dancing
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mine — for digging
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. club — for golf
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. key — for a lock
  17. wake — a trail
  18. capital — money
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. clip — a video
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. key — in music
  24. key — the most important part

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