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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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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: clip · roll · court · vault · mate · band · date · drill

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  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. court — of law
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — to cut
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. clip — for paper
  6. band — a ring
  7. drill — the tool
  8. band — a music group
  9. roll — a cake
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a partner
  12. drill — army training
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. mate — to breed
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. mate — a friend
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of a king
  19. date — the fruit
  20. vault — a safe
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. roll — a list
  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