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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. rest — what's left
  3. ground — the earth
  4. capital — a city
  5. rash — hasty
  6. tear — to rip
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — to cut
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rest — a break
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. cap — a lid
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rash — a series
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. rest — what's left
  20. cap — a hat
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — money
  23. ground — a position
  24. clip — a video

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