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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. pound — a weight
  3. present — there
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — a video
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. court — of law
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. clip — for paper
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. court — of a king
  17. present — the time now
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. present — a gift
  23. court — for sport
  24. clip — to cut

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