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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: chair · file · snap · rash · vault · deal · face · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. vault — a safe
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. deal — to handle
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. face — to confront
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. face — part of the head
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. snap — to click
  15. file — a line of people
  16. face — to point toward
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chair — a leader
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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