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

Word bank: safe · stem · pit · wake · tube · ground · dip · cold

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cold — not warm
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — a trail
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ground — a position
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. tube — the underground
  17. pit — in a race
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. dip — to sink
  21. stem — to come from
  22. tube — a container
  23. cold — an illness
  24. safe — a strongbox

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