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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: bear · cold · wind · vault · roll · rest

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rest — a break
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. roll — a list
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. wind — moving air
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bear — the animal
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. vault — a safe
  18. rest — what's left

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