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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. vault — a safe
  3. staff — employees
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cold — not warm
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. march — the month
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. field — farmland
  14. march — music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. staff — a stick
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. staff — employees
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — tied together
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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