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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: game · deal · cold · jam · root · vault · race · spring

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cold — not warm
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. race — a contest
  6. game — wild animals
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. spring — a coil
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. root — of a word
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. deal — to handle
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. root — the cause
  16. cold — an illness
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. spring — the season
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. root — of a plant
  21. game — a match
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spring — of water
  24. race — humankind

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