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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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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: wind · vault · cabinet · rest · file · wake · game · bat

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. file — a tool
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. game — wild animals
  11. vault — a safe
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. game — a match
  15. bat — the animal
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. wind — moving air

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