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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. bound — obliged
  4. march — music
  5. vault — a safe
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. fork — in a road
  8. file — a tool
  9. bound — tied together
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. march — the month
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. bound — certain

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