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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. vault — a safe
  3. kid — child
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. cold — an illness
  6. capital — money
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. fall — to drop
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. fall — the season
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. capital — a city
  16. clip — to cut
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — electric
  20. current — of water
  21. dip — to sink
  22. fall — to drop
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — not warm

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