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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  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 — in gymnastics
  2. clip — for paper
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. clip — a video
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. field — for sport
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. fall — to drop
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. fall — to drop
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. field — farmland
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. clip — to cut
  17. row — a line
  18. fall — the season
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. field — a subject
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. row — to paddle
  23. trunk — of a car
  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