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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — final
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — music
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bank — for money
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to confront
  14. last — finally
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. last — to go on
  19. ground — the earth
  20. rock — a stone
  21. bank — of a river
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. bank — for money
  24. ground — crushed

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