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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — to go on
  3. game — a match
  4. last — final
  5. cue — a signal
  6. field — farmland
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. ball — a dance
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cue — a hint
  11. row — a line
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — a subject
  15. row — to paddle
  16. ball — a great time
  17. last — finally
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cue — for pool
  21. vault — a safe
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. field — for sport
  24. game — wild animals

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