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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: content · patient · row · vault · trunk · rule · clip · bay

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. rule — government
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. row — to paddle
  9. vault — a safe
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. rule — a law
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. clip — for paper
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. clip — a video
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. content — happy
  20. row — a line
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. content — the amount
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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