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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: foot · last · vault · bear · file · hand · cold · mouse

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. vault — a safe
  8. foot — a measure
  9. last — finally
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. hand — help
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. file — a document
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bear — the animal
  19. last — to go on
  20. file — a tool
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bear — the animal
  24. foot — the bottom

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