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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: bass · cell · rock · land · tear · net · vault · clip

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. bass — the fish
  3. clip — for paper
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bass — low music
  6. net — in sport
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. clip — to cut
  10. land — a country
  11. tear — to rip
  12. land — ground
  13. cell — a phone
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — a video
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — after costs
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. rock — a stone
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in biology

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