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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. tear — to rip
  2. vault — a safe
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. chair — a leader
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mate — a partner
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. bat — for baseball
  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