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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. vault — a safe
  3. pop — music
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. race — a contest
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rash — a series
  8. pop — to visit
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. race — humankind
  15. pop — soda
  16. file — a tool
  17. rash — hasty
  18. mug — a cup
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a document
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mug — a face

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