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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. last — finally
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tube — the underground
  5. row — a line
  6. last — final
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. root — of a plant
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. root — the cause
  13. row — to paddle
  14. rash — hasty
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. rash — a series
  18. tube — a container
  19. shower — rain
  20. last — to go on
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. shower — to wash
  24. root — of a word

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