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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — farmland
  7. content — happy
  8. file — a tool
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. vault — a safe
  14. field — for sport
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. file — a document
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. march — the month
  20. scale — in music
  21. file — a line of people
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. scale — size or range

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