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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — a country
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. chip — to eat
  8. drill — a practice
  9. vault — a safe
  10. mark — a grade
  11. field — for sport
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — for betting
  14. drill — army training
  15. field — a subject
  16. file — a tool
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. file — a document
  21. field — farmland
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. file — a line of people

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