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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: safe · chair · pit · roll · prune · land · tear · lean

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. tear — to rip
  3. lean — to bend
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pit — in a race
  8. roll — a cake
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. lean — thin
  19. land — ground
  20. pit — a hole
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. chair — a leader
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a list

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