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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: wind · pop · rule · stem · pitch · wound · safe · mine

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. pop — soda
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — moving air
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. pop — music
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pitch — completely
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. rule — a law
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. rule — government
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mine — belonging to me

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