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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  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. vault — a safe
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. file — a document
  5. kid — child
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. hand — help
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. kid — to tease
  12. can — to be able to
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. scale — in music
  16. can — a tin
  17. can — a tin
  18. clip — a video
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. clip — for paper
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — to cut
  23. date — the fruit
  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