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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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. capital — a city
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ground — the earth
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. capital — money
  9. spring — a coil
  10. clip — a video
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ground — a position
  13. rule — a law
  14. prune — to trim
  15. clip — to cut
  16. game — a match
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. clip — for paper
  19. spring — the season
  20. rule — government
  21. spring — of water
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. ground — crushed

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