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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cell — in biology
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cell — a phone
  14. file — a tool
  15. hand — in cards
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. hand — help
  19. swing — music
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — a coil
  23. swing — in golf
  24. capital — a city

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