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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: shower · field · vault · race · bear · bay · net · clip

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  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. net — after costs
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. shower — to wash
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — for catching
  13. clip — a video
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. net — in sport
  16. bear — the animal
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. clip — for paper
  20. race — humankind
  21. field — farmland
  22. vault — a safe
  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