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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bear — the animal
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. perch — the fish
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — a video
  9. band — a music group
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. band — a ring
  14. ground — crushed
  15. court — of law
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — a position
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — of a king
  24. vault — a safe

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