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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · kid · safe · can · cold · last · degree · mate

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. land — ground
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — not warm
  5. can — a tin
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. degree — from a university
  8. land — a country
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. can — a tin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — an amount
  14. kid — child
  15. mate — a partner
  16. last — finally
  17. mate — to breed
  18. degree — temperature
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. can — to be able to
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — final
  23. mate — a friend
  24. land — to come down

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