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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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. shower — to wash
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — money
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. vault — a safe
  17. kick — in football
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. capital — a city
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. kick — a thrill

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