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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: rock · foot · pitch · vault · squash · hand · cold · cap

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cap — of ice
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. squash — to crush
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cap — a lid
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. foot — a measure
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rock — a stone
  16. cap — a hat
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hand — help
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pitch — a sports field

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