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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 · capital · season · wind · shower · chest

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. chest — a box
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — rain
  12. vault — a safe
  13. shower — to wash
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. vault — an arched ceiling

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