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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · vault · cold · chair · field · stock · racket · mine

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stock — shares
  5. vault — a safe
  6. pop — music
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — not warm
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pop — soda
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. mine — for digging
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. field — for sport
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. stock — goods
  23. pop — to visit
  24. cold — the Cold War

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