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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — in biology
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. drill — the tool
  8. vault — a safe
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. rush — hurry
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. degree — an amount
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — a practice
  21. cell — a phone
  22. degree — from a university
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. ruler — for measuring

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