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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: cell · fall · clip · shower · vault · file · bark · stock

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. vault — a safe
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cell — in biology
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. file — a document
  9. stock — goods
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fall — to drop
  13. shower — rain
  14. clip — a video
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stock — shares
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. file — a tool
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. clip — to cut
  21. file — a line of people
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. fall — the season
  24. cell — a phone

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