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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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 — in gymnastics
  2. cap — of ice
  3. content — happy
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. file — a line of people
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. file — a tool
  9. land — ground
  10. cap — a hat
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. land — a country
  14. cap — a lid
  15. file — a document
  16. land — to come down
  17. content — the amount
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bat — the animal
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bat — for baseball
  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