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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — of the year
  4. kid — to tease
  5. vault — a safe
  6. drill — the tool
  7. net — after costs
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. drill — army training
  12. net — in sport
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. sharp — clever
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. net — for catching
  20. kid — child
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. season — in sport
  23. mine — for digging
  24. drill — a practice

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