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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bulb — for light
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bass — low music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. snap — to click
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. prune — to trim
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. swing — music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mine — belonging to me

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