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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 120 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: vault · field · lash · file · bowl · root · arm · game

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. file — a document
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. file — a tool
  7. root — of a plant
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. file — a line of people
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. root — of a word
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. field — for sport
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. vault — a safe
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — the cause
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. game — a match

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