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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. spell — letters
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. spell — a short time
  13. club — for dancing
  14. content — the amount
  15. chest — a box
  16. rash — hasty
  17. vault — a safe
  18. club — for golf
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. spell — magic
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. rash — a series
  23. club — a group
  24. chair — a leader

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