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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — an injury
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. net — in sport
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. net — after costs
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. capital — money
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. vault — a safe
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wound — an injury
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mine — for digging

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