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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. net — after costs
  8. chair — a leader
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. season — of the year
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. net — in sport
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. season — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. net — for catching
  24. dip — to dunk

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