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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: rash · lean · bat · ball · vault · clip · hand · sharp

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. ball — a great time
  3. clip — a video
  4. hand — in cards
  5. sharp — clever
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. vault — a safe
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rash — a series
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. clip — for paper
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — on the skin

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