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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. last — final
  3. clip — to cut
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. clip — a video
  6. court — of a king
  7. chair — a leader
  8. last — finally
  9. court — for sport
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. last — to go on
  12. snap — to click
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. clip — for paper
  15. court — of law
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. rash — a series
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. rash — hasty
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. vault — a safe

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