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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. date — the fruit
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ball — a dance
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. wound — an injury
  8. degree — an amount
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. row — to paddle
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. degree — temperature
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. ball — a great time
  19. wound — an injury
  20. row — a line
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. clip — to cut

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