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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. clip — a video
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — to bear
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — not warm
  19. court — of a king
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. wake — a trail
  23. court — of law
  24. stand — for spectators

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