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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. capital — a city
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. tube — a container
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. capital — money
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wake — a trail
  14. land — ground
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. spring — of water
  18. land — a country
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. spring — the season
  23. land — to come down
  24. tube — in a tire

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