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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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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 · bear · row · cold · lean · hand · bay · file

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. row — to paddle
  5. lean — thin
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. hand — help
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. vault — a safe
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. file — a tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. lean — to bend
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. row — a line
  17. file — a document
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bear — the animal
  22. hand — in cards
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bear — the animal

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