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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wound — an injury
  9. game — a match
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a city
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. capital — money
  17. vault — a safe
  18. kid — to tease
  19. squash — to crush
  20. wound — an injury
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. kid — child
  24. squash — the sport

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