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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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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: clip · pit · nail · date · lash · cold · vault · ball

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. vault — a safe
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. ball — a great time
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — in a race
  16. date — the fruit
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. clip — for paper
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. pit — a hole
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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