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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 was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. fall — to drop
  5. clip — a video
  6. fall — the season
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. spell — letters
  11. fall — to drop
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. march — music
  14. squash — the sport
  15. march — the month
  16. game — a match
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — to cut
  19. vault — a safe
  20. spell — a short time
  21. squash — to crush
  22. game — wild animals
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spell — magic

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