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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 · race · coach · cold · court · board

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. court — for sport
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cold — not warm
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. court — of law
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. board — a committee
  16. court — of a king
  17. race — humankind
  18. board — to get on

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