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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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Word bank
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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: scale · file · spring · vault · cell · cold

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cold — an illness
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — a safe
  5. spring — the season
  6. cell — a phone
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. spring — a coil
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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