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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — a box
  4. spring — of water
  5. chest — of your body
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. cap — a hat
  8. lean — to bend
  9. spring — a coil
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. vault — a safe
  20. spring — the season
  21. game — a match
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. game — a kind of play

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