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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. staff — employees
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. staff — a stick
  9. bat — the animal
  10. row — a line
  11. rash — a series
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. ground — the earth
  14. lean — to bend
  15. ground — crushed
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. lean — thin
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. ground — a position
  22. staff — employees
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. row — to paddle

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