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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: bore · hand · rule · bat · bark · vault · net · last

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. rule — government
  3. hand — help
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. vault — a safe
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. rule — a law
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. net — for catching
  23. last — to go on
  24. hand — in cards

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