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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bat — the animal
  3. sharp — clever
  4. board — a committee
  5. club — a group
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. club — for dancing
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. clip — for paper
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. rest — a break
  13. land — a country
  14. board — to get on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. clip — a video
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. vault — a safe
  19. land — to come down
  20. club — for golf
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rest — what's left
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. rest — what's left

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