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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 116 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: pound · bay · lash · fall · capital · clip · vault · cell

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cell — a phone
  3. fall — the season
  4. capital — a city
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. cell — in biology
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. capital — money
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — a weight
  15. clip — to cut
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. clip — for paper
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. clip — a video

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