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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mine · mate · object · cell · cold · vault

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — to protest
  7. mate — to breed
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. object — a thing
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. vault — a safe
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. object — an aim
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mine — an explosive

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