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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. last — finally
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — for dancing
  5. clip — a video
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. clip — to cut
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. club — a group
  10. ground — crushed
  11. last — final
  12. ground — a position
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. roll — a cake
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. roll — a list
  19. chair — a leader
  20. ground — the earth
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lean — to bend
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. last — to go on

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