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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: vault · hand · stock · game · face · bass · cold · row

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. vault — a safe
  3. row — a line
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. hand — help
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a match
  9. stock — shares
  10. bass — the fish
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. stock — goods
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — to confront
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bass — low music

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