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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: bat · hide · file · vault · spell · straw · row · calf

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spell — letters
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. row — a line
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. file — a tool
  19. row — to paddle
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. vault — a safe
  23. spell — a short time
  24. straw — dry grass

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