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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 120 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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — an illness
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. land — a country
  9. rest — what's left
  10. snap — to click
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. land — ground
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — a leader
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. rest — what's left
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. rest — a break
  22. march — music
  23. wound — an injury
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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