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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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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: wound · clip · club · straw · calf · press · vault · sharp

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. press — a publisher
  3. club — for golf
  4. clip — a video
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. sharp — clever
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. press — to push
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. club — a group
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. club — for dancing
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. wound — an injury
  21. press — newspapers
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. calf — a young animal

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