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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: pit · pop · safe · wound · race · bat · row · clip

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  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. bat — for baseball
  2. pop — to visit
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pop — music
  6. race — humankind
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — in a race
  10. row — a line
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. race — a contest
  20. bat — the animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. pop — soda
  23. row — to paddle
  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