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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. court — of a king
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. fork — in a road
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. court — for sport
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. court — of law
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bear — the animal
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — not warm
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. rule — a law

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