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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fall — to drop
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. capital — a city
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. vault — a safe
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. kick — in football
  11. squash — to crush
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. capital — money
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. squash — the sport
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fall — the season
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. nail — for a hammer

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