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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. scale — size or range
  5. net — after costs
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. scale — in music
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — for digging
  12. chair — a leader
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. net — in sport
  19. tear — from crying
  20. net — for catching
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tear — from crying

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