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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. court — of law
  4. vault — a safe
  5. clip — a video
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. clip — for paper
  8. present — the time now
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chair — a leader
  11. swing — in golf
  12. present — a gift
  13. court — for sport
  14. clip — to cut
  15. present — there
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. kid — child
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. court — of a king
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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