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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. saw — the tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. net — in sport
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cold — not warm
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — an illness
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — an agreement

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