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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. ground — crushed
  4. vault — a safe
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. row — a line
  12. kid — child
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. dip — to sink
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. kid — to tease
  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