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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 120 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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. file — a tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. game — wild animals
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. hand — in cards
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. game — a match
  12. present — there
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a document
  15. vault — a safe
  16. present — a gift
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. march — the month
  19. hand — help
  20. file — a line of people
  21. fall — the season
  22. present — the time now
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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