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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bat — the animal
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cap — a lid
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. field — for sport
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. shower — rain
  12. file — a tool
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. field — a subject
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cap — of ice
  20. shower — to wash
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cap — a hat
  23. field — farmland
  24. bat — for baseball

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