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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: bat · game · safe · chair · prune · row · spring · lie

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. row — a line
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chair — a leader
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. spring — of water
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spring — the season
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bat — the animal
  24. spring — a coil

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