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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: kid · bowl · vault · march · present · wake

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. kid — child
  7. vault — a safe
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. present — the time now
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. march — music
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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