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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: cold · vault · scale · shower · track · file · arm · rest

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a tool
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. track — a path
  6. rest — what's left
  7. track — a song
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. shower — to wash
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. track — to keep track
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. file — a line of people
  14. scale — size or range
  15. shower — rain
  16. rest — a break
  17. file — a document
  18. vault — a safe
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. rest — what's left
  23. scale — in music
  24. cold — an illness

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