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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 116 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. track — a path
  3. vault — a safe
  4. kick — in football
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wind — moving air
  7. track — a song
  8. track — to keep track
  9. land — ground
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. land — a country
  13. row — a line
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. wind — moving air
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. row — to paddle
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — to come down
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. kick — with a leg

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