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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. face — to confront
  5. tube — the underground
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — size or range
  11. vault — a safe
  12. tube — a container
  13. kick — in football
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — to point toward
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. patient — a sick person
  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