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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. prune — to trim
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — child
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. field — for sport
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. plane — a tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cold — an illness
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. prune — to trim
  19. vault — a safe
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. field — farmland
  22. kid — to tease
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. wound — an injury

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