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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · perch · vault · clip · field · tube · march · game

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. field — a subject
  3. tube — a container
  4. vault — a safe
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. march — the month
  9. clip — a video
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. field — farmland
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. game — a match
  15. march — the month
  16. field — for sport
  17. tube — the underground
  18. march — music
  19. game — wild animals
  20. clip — for paper
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — to cut
  24. perch — the fish

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