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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bear — the animal
  4. hand — help
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fork — in a road
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. row — a line
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. mine — for digging
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. vault — a safe
  22. game — a match
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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