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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 · tear · present · temple · mine · bat · capital · mug

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. tear — to rip
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. mine — for digging
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — in music
  12. capital — a city
  13. present — a gift
  14. bat — the animal
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mug — to rob
  18. mug — a cup
  19. present — there
  20. mug — a face
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. present — the time now
  23. tear — from crying
  24. capital — a big letter

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