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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  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. vault — a safe
  2. spell — letters
  3. fork — in a road
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mug — to rob
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. mug — a cup
  9. spell — a short time
  10. race — humankind
  11. file — a tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spell — magic
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. clip — for paper
  18. pitch — completely
  19. file — a line of people
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. mug — a face
  22. file — a document
  23. pitch — a sports field
  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