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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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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: vault · stand · cold · pitcher · cell · capital

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. vault — a safe
  4. capital — a city
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. stand — to bear
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. capital — money
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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