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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. face — to confront
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. face — part of the head
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. face — to point toward
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kid — to tease
  16. vault — a safe
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. ground — a position
  21. lean — to bend
  22. kid — child
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. mine — belonging to me

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