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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. present — there
  4. vault — a safe
  5. wake — a trail
  6. kid — child
  7. march — the month
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — a video
  15. present — the time now
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pit — in a race
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. present — a gift
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. march — music

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