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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 120 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: row · suit · vault · bound · rush · degree · cold · file

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. bound — tied together
  2. bound — certain
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. file — a tool
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bound — obliged
  10. rush — hurry
  11. file — a line of people
  12. degree — temperature
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. file — a document
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. suit — to fit
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. suit — in cards
  20. suit — clothes
  21. cold — an illness
  22. vault — a safe
  23. degree — from a university
  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