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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — wild animals
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. clip — a video
  10. vault — a safe
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cell — in biology
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — an illness
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. date — the fruit
  20. sharp — clever
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. ruler — for measuring

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