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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: field · wind · pop · fan · vault · rush · last · wake

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. vault — a safe
  3. wind — moving air
  4. last — final
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. last — to go on
  7. field — for sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. pop — music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. pop — soda
  17. wake — a trail
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. last — finally
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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