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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. rest — a break
  3. rest — what's left
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mine — for digging
  6. object — an aim
  7. rest — what's left
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a dance
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. file — a line of people
  17. clip — to cut
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. object — to protest
  22. vault — a safe
  23. clip — a video
  24. ball — a round shape

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