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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 116 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. spring — the season
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. face — to point toward
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. land — ground
  11. can — to be able to
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — an illness
  14. face — to confront
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. face — part of the head
  20. land — a country
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — not warm
  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