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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: clip · trunk · pitcher · mark · toast · capital · wound · vault

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. vault — a safe
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wound — an injury
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. clip — to cut
  11. toast — bread
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. capital — money
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. capital — a city
  22. mark — a grade
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mark — a trace

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