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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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. staff — employees
  3. cold — an illness
  4. drill — a practice
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. rule — a law
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. vault — a safe
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rule — government
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. march — the month
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. staff — employees
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. staff — a stick
  23. drill — army training
  24. rule — to rule out

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