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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — there
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. march — music
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. march — the month
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chest — a box
  13. present — a gift
  14. tear — to rip
  15. lie — to recline
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chest — of your body
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — a safe
  23. present — the time now
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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