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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. spell — letters
  3. vault — a safe
  4. spell — a short time
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rest — what's left
  7. mate — to breed
  8. capital — a city
  9. clip — to cut
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. mate — a friend
  12. clip — for paper
  13. spell — magic
  14. mate — a partner
  15. fine — all right
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. rock — a stone
  19. rest — a break
  20. capital — money
  21. rock — music
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. rest — what's left
  24. clip — a video

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