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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — to drop
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. clip — a video
  6. rule — government
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. wake — a trail
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — a box
  12. fall — the season
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. rule — a law
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. fall — to drop
  23. chest — of your body
  24. saw — the tool

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