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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. vault — a safe
  3. bank — for money
  4. file — a document
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. ground — a position
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. file — a line of people
  19. shower — rain
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. file — a tool
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. ground — the earth

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