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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. cold — an illness
  5. object — to protest
  6. cold — not warm
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. ground — the earth
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. object — a thing
  11. bore — to drill
  12. field — for sport
  13. vault — a safe
  14. field — farmland
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. ground — a position
  17. chest — a box
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bore — to tire
  21. date — the fruit
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. field — a subject
  24. object — an aim

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