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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: firm · clip · capital · last · safe · sharp · bat · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. firm — steady
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — finally
  7. clip — for paper
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bat — the animal
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. capital — money
  12. last — to go on
  13. firm — a company
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. firm — decided
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — a leader
  22. capital — a city
  23. last — final
  24. clip — to cut

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