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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 120 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: bark · game · vault · bowl · clip · chest · squash · mine

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. game — a match
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. vault — a safe
  8. chest — a box
  9. squash — the sport
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — for digging
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. squash — to crush
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bark — to shout
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. chest — of your body

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