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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  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. spring — of water
  2. file — a document
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mate — to breed
  6. file — a line of people
  7. root — the cause
  8. vault — a safe
  9. mate — a partner
  10. spring — a coil
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — to sink
  14. drill — army training
  15. root — of a plant
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. mate — a friend
  18. spring — the season
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. file — a tool
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. root — of a word
  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