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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 didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. land — ground
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. land — a country
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. present — a gift
  10. tear — to rip
  11. row — to paddle
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. row — a line
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — the animal
  16. capital — a city
  17. land — to come down
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. capital — money
  23. net — in sport
  24. tear — from crying

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