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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. row — a line
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. chest — a box
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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