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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: vault · staff · fork · game · march · wind

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. march — the month
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. march — music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fork — in a road
  11. game — a match
  12. vault — a safe
  13. march — the month
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — a stick

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