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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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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: saw · content · plane · wind · tear · safe · chair · cap

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — from crying
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. saw — the tool
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. tear — to rip
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. content — the amount
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cap — a lid
  18. wind — moving air
  19. plane — a tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cap — of ice
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cap — a hat
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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