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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. capital — money
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. lie — to recline
  6. vault — a safe
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cold — not warm
  14. capital — a city
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. fork — in a road
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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