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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fall — to drop
  6. degree — from a university
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. rush — hurry
  10. vault — a safe
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. file — a tool
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. scale — size or range
  20. degree — an amount
  21. file — a document
  22. degree — temperature
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fall — to drop

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