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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: temple · ball · vault · fine · march · kid · fork · clip

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. vault — a safe
  3. fine — high quality
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fine — all right
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fork — in a road
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. march — the month
  21. ball — a dance
  22. clip — to cut
  23. kid — to tease
  24. fork — to eat with

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