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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. vault — a safe
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. clip — for paper
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. plane — a tool
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. pound — a weight
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. net — for catching
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. shower — rain
  16. pitch — completely
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. net — in sport
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. net — after costs
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. clip — to cut

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