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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. kid — child
  3. rest — a break
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. face — to confront
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. shower — to wash
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — an illness
  12. press — to push
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kid — to tease
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — not warm
  18. press — newspapers
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. shower — rain
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. face — to point toward
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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