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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. clip — a video
  3. rest — what's left
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spell — magic
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rest — what's left
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. rest — a break
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. spell — letters
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. hand — in cards
  17. vault — a safe
  18. spell — a short time

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