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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. field — farmland
  5. can — a tin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. shower — to wash
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. can — a tin
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. ball — a great time
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — a subject
  18. ball — a dance
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. can — to be able to
  23. vault — a safe
  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