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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 120 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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. vault — a safe
  3. shower — rain
  4. charge — a price
  5. fall — the season
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. fall — to drop
  8. object — a thing
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. track — a song
  12. shower — to wash
  13. object — an aim
  14. charge — electricity
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fall — to drop
  19. charge — in control
  20. object — to protest
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a path
  23. bat — the animal
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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