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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pitch — completely
  4. game — wild animals
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. last — to go on
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. last — finally
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. clip — a video
  17. game — a match
  18. land — ground
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. land — to come down
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. land — a country
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — to grow

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