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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 120 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. sharp — clever
  5. land — ground
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. land — to come down
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. land — a country
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bowl — a football final

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