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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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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: vault · field · wind · fine · clip · snap · calf · bore

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. fine — all right
  4. bore — to drill
  5. field — a subject
  6. clip — a video
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. clip — to cut
  9. vault — a safe
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. field — for sport
  16. bore — to tire
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — farmland
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. calf — a young 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