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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pop — soda
  3. fall — the season
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — rain
  6. pop — music
  7. lie — to recline
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. squash — the sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. squash — to crush
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — a subject
  17. shower — to wash
  18. pop — to visit
  19. fall — to drop
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. fall — to drop
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. vault — a safe

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