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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: pit · hand · saw · wave · file · capital · mine · vault

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. capital — a city
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. file — a document
  7. mine — for digging
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. pit — in a race
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. capital — money

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