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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. last — to go on
  4. present — there
  5. clip — to cut
  6. vault — a safe
  7. mine — for digging
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. last — finally
  10. present — a gift
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. bulb — for light
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. last — final
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. present — the time now

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