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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: vault · ball · tear · capital · pitch · clip · trunk · last

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. last — final
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a dance
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — to rip
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. vault — a safe
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. ball — a great time
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pitch — completely
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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