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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. craft — a skill
  4. chair — a leader
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. lean — thin
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — an amount
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. last — finally
  14. craft — boats
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. last — to go on
  24. lean — to rest against

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