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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 124 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. capital — money
  5. court — for sport
  6. shower — rain
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. plane — a tool
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. capital — a city
  15. spring — of water
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. spring — the season
  18. court — of a king
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. spring — a coil
  22. court — of law
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. sharp — clever

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