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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 116 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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. hand — help
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rule — a law
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — of water
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. spring — a coil
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. spring — the season
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wound — an injury

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