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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. cold — not warm
  6. track — a path
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. track — to keep track
  11. rule — government
  12. shower — rain
  13. rule — a law
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. tube — the underground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. track — a song
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. tube — a container
  21. shower — to wash
  22. vault — a safe
  23. chair — a leader
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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