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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: kid · cold · mark · calf · clip · vault · leaves · mine

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. clip — a video
  3. kid — to tease
  4. vault — a safe
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mark — a grade
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — for paper
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. clip — to cut
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. cold — an illness

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