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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — crushed
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. mark — a trace
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. ground — the earth
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. vault — a safe
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. mark — a grade
  14. cold — an illness
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. ground — a position
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — not warm
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bowl — to roll

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