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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. vault — a safe
  5. tear — from crying
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rash — hasty
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. bank — of a river
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bank — for money
  19. tube — the underground
  20. rash — a series
  21. tube — a container
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bank — for money
  24. rash — on the skin

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