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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: vault · bowl · cold · row · last · bass · spring · bat

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. last — final
  7. bass — the fish
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. bass — low music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — of water
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. spring — the season
  19. last — to go on
  20. vault — a safe
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. last — finally
  24. row — to paddle

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