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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 124 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cell — in biology
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — in a road
  10. hand — help
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. clip — for paper
  16. vault — a safe
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. pitch — completely
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. sharp — clever
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. cell — a phone
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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