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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: bark · bowl · date · vault · wake · bass · file · stem

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bass — low music
  9. date — the fruit
  10. vault — a safe
  11. stem — to come from
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. bark — to shout
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wake — a trail
  20. file — a document
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. file — a tool

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