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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: temple · row · cold · rock · safe · clip · vault · cell

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cold — an illness
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. rock — a stone
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. clip — a video
  13. rock — music
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. clip — to cut
  20. row — a line
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. vault — a safe
  23. clip — for paper
  24. temple — a place of worship

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