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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  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. file — a tool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. last — finally
  4. file — a line of people
  5. last — final
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. vault — a safe
  8. capital — money
  9. file — a document
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. capital — a city
  12. drill — the tool
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. drill — a practice
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. drill — army training
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. last — to go on
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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