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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. field — farmland
  3. shower — to wash
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — rain
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. vault — a safe
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. field — a subject
  18. branch — a division

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