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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. march — music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. can — a tin
  10. saw — the tool
  11. march — the month
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. can — a tin
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. can — to be able to
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. saw — the tool

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