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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — to cut
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — a video
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. clip — for paper
  10. vault — a safe
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money

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