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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. fine — all right
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — an injury
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wound — an injury
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. rash — a series
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to click
  16. board — a committee
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. board — to get on
  21. rash — hasty
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. vault — a safe
  24. mine — for digging

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