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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a document
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. key — the most important part
  8. spell — letters
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wind — moving air
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. key — in music
  13. spell — a short time
  14. file — a line of people
  15. vault — a safe
  16. chip — to eat
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. spell — magic
  19. perch — the fish
  20. key — for a lock
  21. file — a tool
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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