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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: bear · hand · clip · sharp · vault · staff · fine · bat

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. staff — employees
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bear — the animal
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — for paper
  13. hand — help
  14. clip — a video
  15. vault — a safe
  16. bear — the animal
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fine — high quality
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. staff — a stick
  24. bat — the animal

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