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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  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. mug — to rob
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spell — letters
  4. vault — a safe
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mug — a cup
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. spell — magic
  11. file — a tool
  12. spell — a short time
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. file — a document
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. file — a line of people
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. mug — a face
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bat — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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