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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. vault — a safe
  5. branch — a division
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a document
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — a group
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — letters
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. spell — a short time
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. content — videos and posts

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