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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. ground — a position
  3. tube — the underground
  4. cell — in biology
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. mine — for digging
  7. scale — in music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. row — a line
  10. clip — a video
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ground — crushed
  16. vault — a safe
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. scale — size or range
  19. row — to paddle
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cell — a phone
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ground — the earth
  24. tube — a container

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