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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tube — the underground
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tube — a container
  7. vault — a safe
  8. file — a tool
  9. last — finally
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — a line
  12. clip — for paper
  13. file — a document
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wind — moving air
  16. last — final
  17. clip — a video
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. last — to go on
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  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