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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. ground — crushed
  3. face — part of the head
  4. shower — rain
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. face — to point toward
  7. fine — all right
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. ground — the earth
  12. shower — to wash
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — a position
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — not warm
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. face — to confront
  24. cold — an illness

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