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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. rush — hurry
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. pitch — completely
  11. branch — a division
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. march — music
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wound — an injury
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. march — the month
  20. wake — a trail
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. net — after costs
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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