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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. capital — money
  4. net — after costs
  5. cell — in biology
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. race — humankind
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. spring — the season
  14. net — in sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. perch — the fish
  17. race — a contest
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. race — the arms race
  20. spring — of water
  21. net — for catching
  22. vault — a safe
  23. cell — a phone
  24. fork — in a road

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