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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tube — the underground
  7. vault — a safe
  8. season — in sport
  9. bank — for money
  10. file — a line of people
  11. swing — in golf
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bank — of a river
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a document
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bank — for money
  19. swing — music
  20. tube — a container
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. swing — to play on
  24. file — a tool

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