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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. fall — to drop
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. ground — crushed
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ground — a position
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. ground — the earth
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. vault — a safe
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wound — an injury

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