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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: clip · tube · vault · cap · straw · cold · chip · wax

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chip — for betting
  6. cap — a lid
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. wax — to grow
  11. vault — a safe
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chip — to eat
  14. tube — a container
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. clip — a video
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tube — the underground

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