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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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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 · arm · march · clip · wake · mine · hand · wind

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. hand — help
  4. vault — a safe
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. march — music
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. march — the month
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wind — moving air
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. wind — moving air
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — a video
  24. arm — part of the body

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