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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. shower — to wash
  4. race — humankind
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. vault — a safe
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. current — happening now
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. race — the arms race
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bat — the animal
  17. current — of water
  18. wake — a trail
  19. race — a contest
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chip — for betting
  23. shower — rain
  24. current — electric

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