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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 116 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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. row — a line
  5. field — farmland
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. court — of law
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. field — for sport
  18. club — a group
  19. pound — a weight
  20. club — for dancing
  21. row — to paddle
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. club — for golf
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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