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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 · hand · lean · vault · calf · tube · net · snap

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. net — after costs
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. tube — the underground
  9. clip — for paper
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. tube — a container
  12. net — for catching
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. lean — thin
  16. net — in sport
  17. vault — a safe
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. clip — a video
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. clip — to cut

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