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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. band — a music group
  3. clip — for paper
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. mate — to breed
  7. band — a ring
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. clip — a video
  10. mate — a friend
  11. spell — letters
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — to rip
  15. spell — a short time
  16. prune — to trim
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. mate — a partner
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spell — magic
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. band — a rubber band

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