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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. vault — a safe
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — to cut
  5. band — a music group
  6. court — of a king
  7. race — a contest
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. object — to protest
  12. clip — for paper
  13. object — an aim
  14. object — a thing
  15. race — humankind
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. race — the arms race
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. clip — a video
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. court — for sport

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