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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 · bay · cue · vault · capital · arm · clip · band

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cue — a signal
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. cue — a hint
  9. capital — a city
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. band — a music group
  14. band — a ring
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. kid — child
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. cue — for pool
  21. capital — money
  22. vault — a safe
  23. clip — a video
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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