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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. capital — money
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. rock — a stone
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — the earth
  13. vault — a safe
  14. rest — a break
  15. rule — government
  16. capital — a city
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. ground — crushed
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — a law
  24. ground — a position

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