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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — a match
  3. squash — the sport
  4. hand — in cards
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — wild animals
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. row — to paddle
  14. clip — a video
  15. land — ground
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. hand — help
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — a country
  20. row — a line
  21. chair — a leader
  22. squash — to crush
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. land — to come down

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