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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. clip — to cut
  6. row — a line
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. row — to paddle
  9. clip — for paper
  10. band — a ring
  11. vault — a safe
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. net — for catching
  17. kid — child
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. net — after costs
  22. kid — to tease
  23. band — a music group
  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