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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. board — a committee
  3. net — for catching
  4. last — final
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. vault — a safe
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. net — after costs
  12. board — to get on
  13. last — finally
  14. cold — an illness
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — in sport

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