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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 116 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: season · march · hand · file · face · vault · rest · cap

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. face — part of the head
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. season — in sport
  8. rest — what's left
  9. file — a tool
  10. march — music
  11. vault — a safe
  12. file — a line of people
  13. cap — a hat
  14. rest — a break
  15. face — to confront
  16. file — a document
  17. rest — what's left
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cap — a lid
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. hand — help
  23. cap — of ice
  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