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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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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: face · cell · clip · vault · kid · rush · object · wind

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. face — to confront
  3. kid — to tease
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. object — to protest
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. rush — hurry
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. object — an aim
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. vault — a safe
  15. face — to point toward
  16. clip — a video
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. object — a thing
  24. cell — a phone

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