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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.

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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. clip — a video
  3. march — the month
  4. vault — a safe
  5. clip — to cut
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. clip — for paper
  9. object — to protest
  10. game — a match
  11. bark — to shout
  12. march — the month
  13. object — a thing
  14. march — music
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. game — wild animals

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