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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: stick · court · vault · bat · present · cold

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — for sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — an illness
  8. present — there
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. present — a gift
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. present — the time now
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — not warm
  18. vault — a safe

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