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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: cold · vault · march · nail · file · last · rush · bat

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. vault — a safe
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — hurry
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. last — finally
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. march — music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. last — to go on
  19. last — final
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. file — a line of people

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