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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — a safe
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. season — in sport
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bark — to shout
  8. season — of the year
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. drill — army training
  11. fall — the season
  12. cold — an illness
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. roll — a list
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. drill — the tool
  19. roll — a cake
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — to drop
  23. shower — rain
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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