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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. last — final
  4. vault — a safe
  5. current — happening now
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. face — to point toward
  8. mate — a friend
  9. current — of water
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. current — electric
  12. cold — an illness
  13. face — to confront
  14. mate — a partner
  15. cold — not warm
  16. kid — child
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. last — to go on
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. face — part of the head
  23. last — finally
  24. chair — to sit on

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