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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. mark — a grade
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. swing — music
  13. root — of a plant
  14. vault — a safe
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a word
  17. board — to get on
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mark — a trace
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. calf — a young animal
  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