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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mark — a grade
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chair — a leader
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. vault — a safe
  11. wake — a trail
  12. mark — a trace
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. file — a document
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. file — a tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pound — a weight
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. pound — for dogs

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