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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. vault — a safe
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. roll — a cake
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — a phone
  11. roll — a list
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — in biology
  16. stand — to bear
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — not warm
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. roll — on a roll

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