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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. club — a group
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. game — a match
  9. snap — to click
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. club — for dancing
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. club — for golf
  14. vault — a safe
  15. foot — a measure
  16. wind — moving air
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — a video
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wind — moving air
  22. clip — to cut
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. game — wild animals

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