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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. track — a path
  3. march — the month
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. cold — not warm
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. vault — a safe
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bat — the animal
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. face — to confront
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stand — to bear
  18. march — music
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. march — the month
  22. track — to keep track
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. face — to point toward

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