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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: straw · bat · key · last · capital · scale · net · nail

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. key — in music
  5. scale — in music
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. scale — size or range
  11. last — to go on
  12. key — for a lock
  13. capital — money
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. net — in sport
  16. last — final
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. net — for catching
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. capital — a city
  22. net — after costs
  23. bat — the animal
  24. last — finally

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