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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. field — farmland
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. last — to go on
  7. present — there
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. present — a gift
  11. field — a subject
  12. clip — a video
  13. fork — in a road
  14. ball — a dance
  15. last — final
  16. present — the time now
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. field — for sport
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. last — finally
  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