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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. shower — rain
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. object — to protest
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ground — crushed
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. hand — help
  18. shower — to wash
  19. object — a thing
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. ground — the earth
  22. object — an aim
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. game — wild animals

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