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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 120 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. clip — a video
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. shower — to wash
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. vault — a safe
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. fork — in a road
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. shower — rain
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. spring — the season
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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