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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. cold — not warm
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. content — the amount
  8. vault — a safe
  9. rush — hurry
  10. deal — to handle
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rash — a series
  13. ball — a great time
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. row — to paddle
  17. content — happy
  18. ball — a dance
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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