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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. clip — a video
  3. sharp — clever
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. land — to come down
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. land — ground
  8. clip — for paper
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. face — to confront
  14. vault — a safe
  15. game — wild animals
  16. snap — to click
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. land — a country
  19. clip — to cut
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. game — a match
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cell — in a prison

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