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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 120 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. spring — a coil
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. spring — of water
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. shower — rain
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. spring — the season
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — a practice
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. vault — a safe
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. mine — for digging
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — finally

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