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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — to play on
  9. mug — to rob
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mug — a cup
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mug — a face
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. vault — a safe

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