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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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Word bank
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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. chair — a leader
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. drill — army training
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. drill — a practice
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. kick — in football
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pass — a permit
  15. clip — to cut
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. cold — an illness
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — for paper

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