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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pit · staff · spell · pass · vault · mine · clip · court

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. mine — for digging
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. staff — a stick
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. court — for sport
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. spell — a short time
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. staff — employees
  14. court — of a king
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. clip — to cut
  17. court — of law
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pit — a hole
  20. spell — magic
  21. staff — employees
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. spell — letters

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