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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. mate — a friend
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mate — to breed
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. track — a song
  9. snap — to click
  10. kid — child
  11. vault — a safe
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. spring — of water
  14. track — a path
  15. mate — a partner
  16. spring — a coil
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spring — the season
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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