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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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468
Word bank
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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. fan — to cool the air
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — magic
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. bound — obliged
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. vault — a safe
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bound — certain
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. kick — in football
  14. spell — letters
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bound — tied together
  19. snap — to click
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. spell — a short time
  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