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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. rule — government
  3. file — a line of people
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rule — a law
  11. land — to come down
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. prune — to trim
  15. tear — from crying
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tear — to rip
  20. file — a tool
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cell — a phone
  24. file — a document

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