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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · wave · rush · clip · spell · bulb · bore · cold

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — to cut
  12. vault — a safe
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. bore — to tire
  15. spell — magic
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rush — hurry
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. bore — to drill
  20. clip — a video
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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