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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. file — a document
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — temperature
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — an amount
  20. file — a tool
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — a sports field

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