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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. vault — a safe
  3. wind — moving air
  4. file — a document
  5. spell — magic
  6. file — a line of people
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — letters
  11. wind — moving air
  12. capital — money
  13. ground — crushed
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. ground — the earth
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. capital — a city
  19. root — of a plant
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. root — the cause
  22. file — a tool
  23. root — of a word
  24. ground — a position

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