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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pit — in a race
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — an illness
  7. band — a music group
  8. pit — a hole
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. root — the cause
  11. branch — a division
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. band — a ring
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — of a plant

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