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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — of the year
  4. clip — to cut
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. hand — in cards
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. last — final
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. last — finally
  15. vault — a safe
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. hand — help
  19. last — to go on
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. season — in sport
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. clip — a video
  24. mark — a grade

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