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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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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: rest · court · vault · hide · ball · chair · clip · straw

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. court — of a king
  6. rest — what's left
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. court — for sport
  9. ball — a dance
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. court — of law
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. ball — a great time
  18. chair — a leader
  19. clip — a video
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — to sit on
  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