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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · net · cell · march · pitcher · rush · vault · rule

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. net — after costs
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. clip — to cut
  11. net — for catching
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. rush — hurry
  16. clip — a video
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — in biology
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. net — in sport
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — the month
  24. rule — government

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