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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. row — a line
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. mug — to rob
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. swing — to play on
  14. mug — a face
  15. clip — to cut
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. row — to paddle
  18. date — the fruit
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mug — a cup
  22. chest — a box
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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