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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. clip — a video
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. last — final
  6. clip — for paper
  7. fine — high quality
  8. last — to go on
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. clip — to cut
  12. root — of a plant
  13. wound — an injury
  14. vault — a safe
  15. root — the cause
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. last — finally
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. hand — help
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fine — all right
  22. root — of a word
  23. hand — in cards
  24. leaves — of a tree

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