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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: clip · club · race · content · rest · last · safe · bulb

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. race — a contest
  4. last — final
  5. club — for golf
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. rest — what's left
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. clip — a video
  11. club — a group
  12. last — finally
  13. clip — for paper
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. clip — to cut
  16. race — humankind
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. race — the arms race
  20. last — to go on
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. club — for dancing
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — for light

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