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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — an illness
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. last — finally
  7. march — the month
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cold — not warm
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. scale — size or range
  15. march — the month
  16. last — final
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. march — music
  19. scale — in music
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. vault — a safe
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. last — to go 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