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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: face · pound · snap · vault · straw · race · court · cap

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. race — humankind
  4. court — of law
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cap — a lid
  12. court — of a king
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. race — a contest
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. pound — a weight
  17. face — to confront
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cap — a hat
  20. race — the arms race
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. court — for sport
  23. cap — of ice
  24. face — to point toward

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