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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: chest · file · mine · vault · bore · bat · toast · plane

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chest — of your body
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. file — a document
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bore — to drill
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. toast — bread
  17. chest — of your body
  18. vault — a safe
  19. file — a tool
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. mine — for digging
  24. chest — a box

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