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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. game — a match
  3. staff — employees
  4. file — a tool
  5. rash — hasty
  6. game — wild animals
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. spring — of water
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. spring — a coil
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. wound — an injury
  16. rash — a series
  17. vault — a safe
  18. staff — a stick
  19. file — a document
  20. spring — the season
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. wound — an injury
  23. file — a line of people
  24. staff — employees

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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