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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. field — farmland
  3. row — a line
  4. shower — to wash
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. shower — rain
  9. march — the month
  10. chip — to eat
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — a safe
  13. chip — for betting
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. march — music
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. field — a subject
  19. row — to paddle
  20. fork — in a road
  21. field — for sport
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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