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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: chair · bulb · clip · cell · bark · patient · vault · wound

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cell — a phone
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. chair — a leader
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bark — to shout
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. vault — a safe
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bulb — for light
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. clip — a video
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. chair — a professorship

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