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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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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: safe · roll · drill · last · capital · dip · bat · net

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. drill — army training
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. capital — money
  9. last — finally
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. net — for catching
  12. last — to go on
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. roll — a list
  16. net — in sport
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. last — final
  20. bat — the animal
  21. net — after costs
  22. capital — a city
  23. dip — to sink
  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