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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. clip — to cut
  3. vault — a safe
  4. band — a music group
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. spring — of water
  8. band — a ring
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — the season
  12. saw — the tool
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pit — in a race
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pit — a hole
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. clip — a video
  21. degree — an amount
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. spring — a coil

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