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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 116 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: bowl · vault · fall · bound · drill · last · row · clip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bound — obliged
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. clip — for paper
  7. row — a line
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — finally
  10. last — to go on
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fall — to drop
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fall — to drop
  16. drill — army training
  17. vault — a safe
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bound — certain
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. fall — the season
  22. clip — to cut
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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