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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: fall · coach · ground · clip · hand · stock · kick · vault

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. ground — crushed
  6. vault — a safe
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. ground — a position
  10. stock — goods
  11. ground — the earth
  12. stock — shares
  13. kick — in football
  14. clip — to cut
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. clip — a video
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — for paper
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — help
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. stock — a soup base

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