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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. object — an aim
  3. vault — a safe
  4. pop — to visit
  5. band — a ring
  6. bark — to shout
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. pop — music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. present — a gift
  11. object — to protest
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — to cut
  17. capital — money
  18. band — a music group
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — a thing
  22. pop — soda
  23. present — the time now
  24. bark — of a tree

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