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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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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: cabinet · wind · file · branch · mug · cold · vault · fork

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cold — an illness
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. branch — a division
  5. vault — a safe
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mug — a cup
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. fork — in a road
  12. mug — a face
  13. file — a document
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. mug — to rob
  16. file — a tool
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a line of people

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