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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. roll — a cake
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. field — farmland
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. field — for sport
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — to protest
  18. object — an aim
  19. bore — to drill
  20. field — a subject
  21. vault — a safe
  22. roll — a list
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bore — to tire

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