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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. capital — money
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. pit — in a race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. stem — to come from
  18. bass — the fish
  19. row — a line
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. capital — a city
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bass — low music

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