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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: ruler · chest · rest · cold · ground · fan · field · vault

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. 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. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ground — crushed
  8. field — farmland
  9. vault — a safe
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — a position
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — the earth
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — a subject
  22. chest — a box
  23. rest — what's left
  24. 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