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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. pit — a hole
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. cell — a phone
  16. roll — a cake
  17. degree — temperature
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. rock — music
  20. roll — a list
  21. pit — in a race
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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