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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ball — a dance
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. craft — boats
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — a coil
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. spring — the season
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. chair — a leader
  17. vault — a safe
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spring — of water
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. craft — a skill
  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