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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 120 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: current · cold · fork · present · row · vault

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. current — happening now
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. row — a line
  6. present — there
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fork — in a road
  9. vault — a safe
  10. current — of water
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — a gift
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cold — an illness
  15. row — to paddle
  16. current — electric
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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