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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ball — a dance
  5. vault — a safe
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ground — a position
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. tube — the underground
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. tube — a container
  23. clip — a video
  24. ground — the earth

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