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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. race — a contest
  3. track — a path
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — to keep track
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. clip — a video
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. race — humankind
  15. track — a song
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a city
  18. race — the arms race
  19. capital — money
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fine — all right
  24. clip — to cut

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