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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. ball — a dance
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bank — for money
  6. land — a country
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. vault — a safe
  10. present — the time now
  11. clip — to cut
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. present — there
  14. land — ground
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — of a river
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. land — to come down
  20. clip — a video
  21. ball — a great time
  22. present — a gift
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. clip — for paper

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