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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 120 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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. land — ground
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — a country
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. clip — to cut
  9. land — to come down
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — a video
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. ball — a dance
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. vault — a safe
  24. ball — a great time

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