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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 124 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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. stand — to bear
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — to shout
  11. firm — steady
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — to cut
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. vault — a safe
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. firm — decided
  24. stand — on your feet

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