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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. mine — for digging
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. club — for golf
  8. clip — a video
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. club — a group
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — money
  16. club — for dancing
  17. scale — size or range
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. net — for catching
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. net — in sport
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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