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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: row · vault · shower · sharp · chest · pound · mine · fine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fine — high quality
  5. shower — rain
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. vault — a safe
  8. fine — all right
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pound — a weight
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. row — to paddle
  18. chest — a box
  19. shower — to wash
  20. row — a line
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. mine — for digging

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