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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. face — to point toward
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. court — of a king
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — the animal
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. face — part of the head
  13. kid — child
  14. court — of law
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. kid — to tease
  20. face — to confront
  21. court — for sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bat — for baseball

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