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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: last · prune · wind · safe · degree · object · snap · pound

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — a thing
  6. last — to go on
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. object — an aim
  19. snap — to click
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. safe — out of danger

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