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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 116 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  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. object — an aim
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. swing — to play on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. land — to come down
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. clip — to cut
  12. field — farmland
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. object — to protest
  15. field — for sport
  16. tube — a container
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. land — ground
  19. object — a thing
  20. land — a country
  21. vault — a safe
  22. field — a subject
  23. tube — the underground
  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