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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cold — an illness
  5. land — to come down
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. cold — not warm
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spring — of water
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — the season
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — a country
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. land — ground
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wake — a trail

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