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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: kid · fall · face · clip · rock · field · last · vault

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. fall — to drop
  3. kid — child
  4. vault — a safe
  5. last — to go on
  6. clip — a video
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — final
  10. rock — a stone
  11. last — finally
  12. face — to confront
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. rock — music
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. fall — the season
  18. kid — to tease
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. fall — to drop
  21. face — part of the head
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. field — for sport

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