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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. scale — size or range
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to bend
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. spell — letters
  13. clip — to cut
  14. spell — a short time
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. scale — in music
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — in sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. clip — a video
  23. spell — magic
  24. lean — to rest against

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