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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. fall — to drop
  5. kid — to tease
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. clip — a video
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bound — certain
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bound — tied together
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bat — the animal
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. bound — obliged
  22. clip — to cut
  23. kid — child
  24. fall — the season

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