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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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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: cold · kick · mark · stock · vault · file · rash · bowl

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. vault — a safe
  3. cold — an illness
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mark — a grade
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. stock — goods
  10. rash — a series
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mark — a trace
  18. file — a document
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. kick — in football
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. rash — hasty
  23. stock — shares
  24. rash — on the skin

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