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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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. 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. vault — a safe
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. net — after costs
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lean — thin
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lean — to bend
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pop — soda
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. net — for catching
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pop — to visit
  24. 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