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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: chair · sharp · row · march · vault · leaves · spring · mine

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. spring — the season
  4. row — a line
  5. march — the month
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. march — music
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. march — the month
  10. chair — a leader
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. row — to paddle
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. mine — for digging
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — a safe

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