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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kid — child
  5. sharp — clever
  6. clip — for paper
  7. last — finally
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bat — the animal
  10. last — to go on
  11. fall — to drop
  12. clip — a video
  13. track — a path
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. fall — the season
  17. kid — to tease
  18. track — to keep track
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. track — a song
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. safe — a strongbox

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