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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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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: file · saw · cold · chip · vault · toast · fork · bay

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. file — a tool
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. toast — bread
  10. vault — a safe
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. file — a document
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cold — not warm
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. saw — the tool

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