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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 116 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — the most important part
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — help
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. hand — in cards
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. saw — the tool
  17. key — in music
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wound — an injury
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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