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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cell — in biology
  3. season — in sport
  4. vault — a safe
  5. land — ground
  6. file — a tool
  7. lean — to bend
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a document
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. land — to come down
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. court — of a king
  14. land — a country
  15. court — of law
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. season — of the year
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. court — for sport
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. lean — to rest against

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