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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spell — letters
  3. saw — the tool
  4. vault — a safe
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. bass — low music
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. saw — the tool
  14. kid — child
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — to tease
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bass — the fish
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. spell — magic
  21. file — a document
  22. hand — help
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. spell — a short time

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