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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — the time now
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mate — a partner
  6. march — the month
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. march — the month
  9. mate — a friend
  10. rest — what's left
  11. march — music
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. present — there
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. mate — to breed
  24. vault — a safe

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