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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: ruler · rock · cold · saw · vault · spell · ball · straw

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. saw — the tool
  4. vault — a safe
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spell — letters
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spell — a short time
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. rock — music
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. saw — the tool
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. spell — magic
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a great time
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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