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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. capital — money
  3. band — a music group
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. band — a ring
  12. clip — for paper
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. capital — a city
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. vault — a safe
  20. clip — to cut
  21. press — newspapers
  22. clip — a video
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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