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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. capital — a city
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. game — a match
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. race — the arms race
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. present — a gift
  13. capital — money
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. race — a contest
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. present — the time now
  20. lean — to bend
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. race — humankind
  23. present — there
  24. clip — a video

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