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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: file · cold · bay · land · rest · hand · vault · racket

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  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. land — ground
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. file — a tool
  4. vault — a safe
  5. land — a country
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — an illness
  8. land — to come down
  9. rest — a break
  10. file — a document
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rest — what's left
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. cold — not warm
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. rest — what's left
  23. racket — a loud noise
  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