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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. stand — to bear
  9. scale — in music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. kick — in football
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. wound — an injury
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. scale — size or range
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cold — not warm

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