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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 120 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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — a hole
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — from a university
  7. march — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. prune — to trim
  11. march — the month
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — to rip
  15. capital — money
  16. pit — in a race
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chest — of your body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — an amount
  24. capital — a city

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