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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. file — a line of people
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — a container
  19. fork — in a road
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. chip — for betting
  22. kick — in football
  23. chip — to eat
  24. cold — the Cold War

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