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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: vault · bulb · board · capital · land · hand · wound · clip

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. clip — to cut
  3. vault — a safe
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. land — a country
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bulb — for light
  11. clip — a video
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. land — ground
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. land — to come down
  16. capital — a city
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — for paper
  20. board — to get on
  21. capital — money
  22. bulb — for light
  23. board — a committee
  24. hand — in cards

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