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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bound — tied together
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bound — obliged
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. spring — a coil
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. file — a tool
  12. rash — a series
  13. file — a document
  14. vault — a safe
  15. bark — to shout
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bound — certain
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. spring — the season
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. snap — to click
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. vault — in gymnastics

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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