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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. craft — boats
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ball — a great time
  6. face — to confront
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. hand — in cards
  10. ball — a dance
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. wind — moving air
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. face — part of the head
  16. clip — a video
  17. craft — a skill
  18. face — to point toward
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. hand — help
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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