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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: sharp · capital · chest · club · wind · hide · clip · vault

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. vault — in gymnastics
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. clip — a video
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. vault — a safe
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — a group
  12. chest — of your body
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. sharp — clever
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — for paper
  17. chest — a box
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. club — for golf
  21. capital — a city
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — money
  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