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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. chest — of your body
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — a phone
  8. prune — to trim
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. chest — a box
  11. can — to be able to
  12. game — a match
  13. club — for golf
  14. degree — temperature
  15. club — for dancing
  16. can — a tin
  17. cell — in biology
  18. can — a tin
  19. prune — to trim
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. degree — from a university
  22. club — a group
  23. game — wild animals
  24. cell — in a prison

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