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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. craft — boats
  8. vault — a safe
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. craft — a skill
  11. degree — from a university
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. degree — an amount
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. clip — to cut
  23. degree — temperature
  24. jam — in traffic

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