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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. vault — a safe
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cold — not warm
  5. season — in sport
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. rash — a series
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pass — a permit
  10. bat — the animal
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. tube — a container
  13. scale — in music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. scale — size or range
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bat — for baseball

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