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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 116 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: tear · kick · safe · bat · wound · prune · present · chip

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. tear — to rip
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kick — in football
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. chip — to eat
  14. present — the time now
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. present — there
  18. chip — for betting
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. present — a gift

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