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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: patient · fall · clip · vault · toast · craft

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. vault — a safe
  3. fall — the season
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. craft — boats
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. fall — to drop
  11. toast — bread
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. patient — a sick person

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