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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. drill — army training
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chair — a leader
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wake — a trail
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bat — the animal
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. chair — a professorship

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