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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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — of ice
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cap — a hat
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. club — for golf
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ground — a position
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. club — a group
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. ground — the earth
  18. vault — a safe
  19. club — for dancing
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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