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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 124 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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. ball — a great time
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wake — a trail
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. branch — a division
  13. clip — for paper
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. pass — a permit
  16. vault — a safe
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. hand — help
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ball — a dance
  24. wind — moving air

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