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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. wind — moving air
  3. court — for sport
  4. prune — to trim
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. court — of law
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — a phone
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. vault — a safe
  17. cell — in biology
  18. court — of a king
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. track — a song
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. track — to keep track
  24. clip — a video

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