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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. rush — hurry
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. vault — a safe
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. root — of a word
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. race — humankind
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. root — of a plant
  21. race — the arms race
  22. root — the cause
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. race — a contest

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