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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 116 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ball — a dance
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. clip — a video
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — in cards
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. clip — to cut
  11. kid — to tease
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. clip — for paper
  18. capital — a city
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. vault — a safe
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. ball — a great time
  23. hand — help
  24. capital — money

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