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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. tear — from crying
  3. ground — the earth
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. chair — a leader
  7. plane — a tool
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. ground — crushed
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tear — from crying
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tear — to rip
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — a position

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