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

Word bank: march · vault · cell · bark · staff · bat

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. march — music
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. staff — a stick
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. march — the month
  14. vault — a safe
  15. staff — employees
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cell — in biology

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