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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: march · vault · cue · chest · cold · mate

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. chest — a box
  3. cue — for pool
  4. mate — a partner
  5. vault — a safe
  6. march — the month
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. mate — to breed
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mate — a friend
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — the month
  14. cue — a signal
  15. march — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cold — an illness

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