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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: perch · stock · vault · arm · hand · tube · cold · file

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — goods
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — a container
  8. hand — help
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. vault — a safe
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. file — a document
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. perch — the fish
  18. file — a tool
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. hand — in cards
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. arm — part of the body

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