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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: squash · court · race · roll · pitcher · vault · mate · clip

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  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. mate — a friend
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. clip — to cut
  5. vault — a safe
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. squash — the sport
  9. race — humankind
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. race — a contest
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. roll — a cake
  15. race — the arms race
  16. roll — a list
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. court — of law
  19. squash — to crush
  20. mate — a partner
  21. clip — for paper
  22. mate — to breed
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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