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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: vault · suit · bat · coach · fall · file · tear · cold

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — not warm
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. vault — a safe
  6. suit — in cards
  7. tear — to rip
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. cold — an illness
  10. file — a line of people
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a document
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fall — the season
  17. suit — clothes
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. suit — to fit
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — the animal

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