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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. vault — a safe
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. mine — for digging
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rule — a law
  11. rash — a series
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rule — government
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. ball — a dance
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. rash — hasty

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