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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. scale — size or range
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. net — for catching
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. last — final
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. last — to go on
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. pop — to visit
  12. vault — a safe
  13. net — after costs
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pop — soda
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. net — in sport
  21. pop — music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. last — finally
  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