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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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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. shower — rain
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bark — to shout
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. shower — to wash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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