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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a line of people
  3. field — farmland
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. shower — to wash
  6. field — for sport
  7. vault — a safe
  8. court — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. board — to get on
  11. shower — rain
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a document
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. board — a committee
  16. court — of law
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. court — of a king
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. file — a tool
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — the Cold War

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